1968 Wharton graduate and President-elect Donald Trump nominated University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School and Wharton professor Jay Clayton as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
Trump announced Clayton's nomination on on Nov. 14 after speculation that he was being considered for U.S. secretary of the treasury. If confirmed, Clayton would oversee the most prestigious U.S. attorney’s office in the country despite having no experience as a prosecutor or litigator.
In the announcement, Trump wrote that Clayton was “a highly respected business leader, counsel, and public servant” and touted his educational background. Clayton received a degree from Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1988 and graduated from Penn Carey Law in 1993.
If confirmed, Clayton will oversee the high-profile criminal cases against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Clayton served as the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first presidency. When he was nominated for the role in 2017, the U.S. Senate approved him by a 61-37 margin.
During Clayton’s three-year tenure at the SEC, his office brought sanctions against 1997 College and Wharton graduate Elon Musk for misleading information he shared on the social media platform X — formerly known as Twitter — about a possible buyout of Tesla. Clayton called on Musk to step away from his role as chairman of Tesla for three years and pay a $20 million fine.
Musk and Trump have since become close allies, and Musk was recently appointed co-chair of Trump's newly formed “Department of Government Efficiency.”
In 2020, towards the tail end of Trump’s first presidency, Clayton was considered to head the SDNY after Trump attempted to fire Geoffrey Berman, the current officeholder. At the time, the office was investigating Trump’s associates, and the scheme never advanced with significant pushback from both Republicans and Democrats.
Before joining the SEC, he was on the management committee at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. He also serves on the board of directors for Apollo Global Management, which is led by 1985 Wharton MBA graduate Marc Rowan, the current chair of the Wharton Board of Advisors.
Rowan was vocal in calling for former Penn President Liz Magill’s resignation last fall in an open letter and promised that he would withhold donations from the University until she and former University Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok stepped down.
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