Brett Messing blamed for Anthony Scaramucci’s tanking hedge fund

The brother of “Will and Grace” star Debra Messing persuaded Anthony Scaramucci to make a disastrous investment in cryptocurrency — costing his hedge fund tens of millions of dollars, according to a report.

Brett Messing, who attended Harvard Law School alongside “The Mooch,” rose to become president and a partner at his hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, which at its height had some $9 billion in assets under its management.

But insiders told Bloomberg News that it was Messing who is also responsible for several missteps at the firm.

Messing joined SkyBridge Capital in 2017, when he paid some $8 million to become a partner, according to Bloomberg.

Insiders were worried about Messing given his reputation on Wall Street, the report said.

In 2010, Messing was forced to pay $1.7 million in fines and penalties to the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating short-telling rules while heading GPS Partners, a $2.5 billion hedge fund.

Messing did not admit wrongdoing.

After coming aboard, Messing oversaw a real estate fund that sought to take advantage of government-designated “opportunity zones.”

Although the fund failed to produce gains, Messing was nevertheless given greater say over SkyBridge’s main investment fund, according to the report.

In 2020, Messing was the driving force behind SkyBridge’s decision to sell off some of its biggest positions at a loss, according to Bloomberg.

That decision, which was opposed by employees on the investment team, proved to be disastrous as the positions eventually rebounded, according to Bloomberg.

A SkyBridge Capital representative declined to comment when reached by The Post.

“He’s a little bit of a sharp elbow, but I have an enormous amount of confidence in Brett Messing,” Scaramucci told Bloomberg. “He’s incredibly smart, technically gifted and a very capable guy.”

Despite the error, Messing continued to solidify his power within the company, rising to become president and chief operating officer, according to Bloomberg.

In late 2020, Messing steered SkyBridge toward investing in cryptocurrency.

The firm began buying up large sums of Bitcoin, whose value had soared nearly three-fold since March of that year.

At the time, Bitcoin had crossed the $50,000 threshold, but the risk of investing in digital assets prompted some staffers at SkyBridge to sound the alarm.

During one meeting, employees vocally complained that SkyBridge was violating its own internal risk guidelines by betting big on crypto, according to Bloomberg News.

The Mooch told Bloomberg: “Since inception, SkyBridge has always, without exception, adhered to all risk guidelines — full stop.”

The Bitcoin investment seemed to be paying off as the main fund saw its value soar by 11% in 2021.

But the dawn of the crypto winter last year spelled bad news for SkyBridge.

As digital assets plummeted, so did the firm’s main investment fund, whose value dropped more than 25%.

In March of last year, SkyBridge was unable to meet all of its clients’ redemption requests, the first time it happened in the company’s history, according to Bloomberg.

In 2021, SkyBridge generated $55 million in revenue.

Last year, though, its asset management business managed to generate just $24 million.