The broker of Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, attempted to make a massive investment in major arms companies in the weeks leading up to the Israeli-American attack on Iran, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing three sources close to the matter. Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell stated on X that this information was “entirely false and fabricated,” demanding an immediate retraction. According to the FT article, Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February to make a multi-million dollar investment in the asset manager’s “Defense Industrials Active” ETF, shortly before the United States launched their military action against Tehran. The financial daily reported that the investment discussed by Hegseth’s broker ultimately did not materialize, as the fund, launched last May, was not yet accessible to Morgan Stanley’s clients. The FT report does not specify the level of discretion the broker had to invest on behalf of Hegseth, or whether Hegseth was informed of the steps taken. “Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock regarding such an investment,” Parnell stated. BlackRock declined to comment on this information, while Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests. These revelations about this investment attempt come in a context of increased monitoring of transactions on financial markets and anticipation of major political decisions by President Donald Trump. Some of these decisions have been predicted by timely bets, leading some experts to question possible leaks of advance information.
