Ross likely candidate for commerce secretary

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate as secretary of commerce investor Wilbur Ross, who became a billionaire by acquiring and restructuring troubled companies, according to a person familiar with the transition planning. Todd Ricketts, co-owner of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, is in line to be appointed as Ross’s deputy, the person said. It’s not clear if Trump has formally offered the jobs. Reached by phone, Ross declined to comment. 

Ross would oversee a sprawling agency of almost 47,000 employees across the US and around the world that describes itself as “the voice of US business within the President’s Cabinet.”

Ross, 78, was a long-time Democrat who turned conservative and backed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012.