They say you can judge a person by the company they keep. Donald Trump, surrounded by his cadre of old and new billionaire friends, is the epitome of this truth.
Before the election, we had a good feeling that billionaires would be the biggest winners of a second Trump presidency, especially given the record-breaking amount of money that they spent to get him elected. Over the last few weeks since the election, as Trump and his transition team prepare for his return to the White House, there have been a number of developments that have occurred that have reaffirmed our belief. For this week’s Closer Look, we’d like to highlight these developments and share some of the specific benefits that we expect billionaires to receive from the new administration.
Let’s start with how Trump is financing his transition and inauguration. In a historic break with tradition, Trump has declined to sign an agreement with the Biden administration to institute limits on donations to his transition effort and to disclose the names of transition donors in exchange for up to $7.2 million in federal funds. Trump’s team has said that he will disclose the names of his donors but failed to say when, so essentially, the door is now wide open for Trump to raise unlimited funds from unknown donors (translation: billionaires) with self-interested and suspect motives for giving.
We do, however, know a bit about how Trump is financing his inauguration, but unfortunately, it’s also not exactly encouraging. Similar to Trump’s transition, there are no limits on donations that can be made to inaugural committees. Reports have revealed that Trump’s team has gotten creative with the perks that they’ve offered to draw in big sums: those who give $1 million or raise $2 million for Trump’s inaugural committee receive six tickets to eight inaugural events, including a reception with Trump’s Cabinet picks; fancy dinners with the President-elect, the Vice-President-elect, and their wives; and the inauguration itself. Even though gifts over $200 are required to be disclosed, given that Trump’s first inaugural committee was investigated for illegal foreign donations – which led to a 12-year prison sentence for one donor – these perks and the general notion of unlimited fundraising don’t quell any of our concerns that the Trump administration is being unduly influenced by billionaires looking to cash in later down the line.
Perhaps the biggest signal that Trump’s presidency is going to be a good time for billionaires though is the fact that he has tapped a number of them to work directly in his administration. Here is a list of some of the billionaires that Trump has selected for key positions and their estimated net worth:
- Elon Musk ($370 billion) – Co-Chair of Department of Government Efficiency
- Vivek Ramaswamy ($1 billion) – Co-Chair of Department of Government Efficiency
- Scott Bessent (Reported billionaire) – Treasury Secretary
- Howard Lutnick ($2 billion) – Commerce Secretary
- Linda McMahon ($2.6 billion) – Education Secretary
- Doug Burgum ($1.1 billion) – Interior Secretary
- Massad Boulos (Reported billionaire) – Middle East advisor
- Stephen Feinberg ($5 billion) – Deputy Defense Secretary
- Warren Stephens ($3.3 billion) – Ambassador to the United Kingdom
- Charles Kushner ($2.9 billion) – Ambassador to France
- Jared Isaacman ($1.9 billion) – NASA administrator
- Kelly Loeffler ($1.1 billion) – Small business administrator
- David Sacks (Reported billionaire) – AI and crypto czar
- Steven Witkoff ($1 billion) – Special envoy to the Middle East
Let’s also not forget that Trump, the President-elect himself, is a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion.
These postings are not official – with the exception of Musk and Ramaswamy, they will need to be confirmed by the Senate – but it’s still worth noting that this would be the wealthiest administration in US history. The total net worth of Trump’s Cabinet would be $11.8 billion, which is a far cry from the worth – $118 million – of President Biden’s current Cabinet. And when you include non-Cabinet members like Musk, Ramaswamy, and Stephens into the mix, the figure balloons to $382.2 billion – which is more than the GDP of 172 countries.
At this point, you may rightfully be wondering why billionaires would be so eager to donate to Trump’s election campaign, his transition effort, and his inaugural committee and, for some, to go a step further and serve in his administration. The answer is simple: Trump has made it no secret that he intends to deliver, and deliver big, for the wealthy on taxes and the economy. Some of his tax proposals, like eliminating taxes on overtime pay, tips, and Social Security, will benefit working people, but taken all together, they will lead to a tax increase for all income groups outside the top 5% of earners. Billionaires are also excited for Trump to follow through on his deregulation promise, especially in the tech industry with cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.
If they’re successful in passing their proposals, billionaires will reap a windfall. Ironically enough, this has already happened, as the stock market has rallied in anticipation of Trump’s business-friendly administration. The day after Trump won the election, the world’s ten richest people – eight of them Americans – saw their wealth increase by no less than $64 billion. Between November 4th (the day before the election) and November 12th, America’s 815 billionaires saw their fortunes jump by a whopping $276 billion.
While it’s true that all billionaires stand to gain from Trump’s presidency, we would be remiss if we did not spotlight the one who is likely to benefit the most: Elon Musk. Musk gave an eye-popping $250 million to Trump’s election effort and is already reaping his reward. Reports are out that, today, Musk became the first person to top $400 billion in wealth – an incredible 66% increase since Trump’s election. He has also enjoyed unprecedented access to the president as his self-proclaimed “first buddy.” He was by Trump’s side on election night at Mar-a-Lago. He was chosen to co-lead Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (“DOGE” for short). He has taken phone calls with world leaders. He has advised Trump on Cabinet appointments and sat in on job interviews. He has even gotten close to Trump’s family. While we would argue that he was “America’s most powerful private citizen,” as The New York Times labeled him, before the election, there is no disputing that that is certainly the case now.
Two weeks after the election, MSNBC ran the headline, “Could Trump and his billionaire buddies turn America into an oligarchy?” Unfortunately, they’re asking the wrong question. If billionaires have this much wealth, influence, and power even before Trump returns to the White House, we’re already living in an oligarchy. The question should be how much worse will it get.
We don’t like to end on a totally pessimistic note, so we’ll reiterate what we said after the election: no matter what happens – no matter how much billionaires’ wealth skyrockets in Trump’s presidency, no matter how many of his billionaire appointments get confirmed by the Senate, no matter what Elon Musk manages to do with DOGE – the Patriotic Millionaires aren’t going anywhere. No matter what, you can rest assured that we will continue to fight the good fight for working people, demand an economy that works for all, and stand up for our democracy.