Transition of Power
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Trump has chosen a banking executive, Frank Bisignano, to head the Social Security Administration. Bisignano has worked at prominent Wall Street banks throughout his career and has a track record of making political donations, primarily to Republican candidates.
Authored by Minho Kim
Writing from the capital
Stay updated on the most recent developments regarding Trump’s transition process and the individuals he is choosing for his staff
On Wednesday night, President-elect Trump revealed his selection of Frank Bisignano, the chairman of Fiserv, a large payment processing company, as the new commissioner of the Social Security Administration. This federal agency has over 1,200 field offices and nearly 60,000 staff members.
The president-elect praised Frank as a skilled business leader known for successfully transforming big companies. In a social media post, the president-elect stated that Frank will have the important task of ensuring that the Agency fulfills its promises to the American people.
In his late 20s, Mr. Bisignano achieved a highly sought-after position in the finance industry in New York as a senior vice president at Shearson Lehman Brothers. This investment bank’s collapse in 2008 played a role in triggering a worldwide economic downturn. After spending almost five years at Shearson Lehman Brothers in the late 1980s, he went on to work at other prominent Wall Street banks, including Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase & Company.
In 2017, Mr. Bisignano was ranked as the second highest-paid CEO in the United States. He was one of the rare few to receive over $100 million in compensation that year, earning more than 2,000 times the average salary of an employee at First Data Corporation, the company that later merged with Fiserv.
Mr. Bisignano has a track record of making political donations, mostly to Republican candidates. Records from federal campaign finance reports indicate that his wife, Tracy Bisignano, contributed almost $1 million to Mr. Trump’s campaign in October. However, in November 2023, he also donated $15,000 to Chris Christie’s presidential campaign. Christie, a Republican and former governor of New Jersey, initially ran against Trump but later withdrew from the race.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump posted a detailed biography of Mr. Bisignano on social media and congratulated him and his family, but did not mention the position he was being appointed to. An hour later, the president-elect clarified the situation, putting an end to speculation about Mr. Bisignano’s future role.
Minho Kim reports on current events and environmental issues, working out of Washington. To learn more about Minho Kim, visit his profile.
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