World’s wealthiest see significant gains and hope for more on Trump’s election wins.
Wednesday proved highly profitable not only for Donald Trump but also for the world’s wealthiest individuals, who saw record-breaking gains in their fortunes, as reported by Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
Leading the gains was Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and an outspoken Trump supporter, whose wealth surged by $26.5 billion to reach $290 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, following his decision to withhold The Washington Post’s endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, saw his wealth grow by $7.1 billion. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, another Trump supporter, also saw an increase, with his net worth rising by $5.5 billion on Wednesday. Other top gainers included former Microsoft executives Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, former Google executives Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.
Although these billionaires refrained from endorsing a candidate this election cycle, some have previously expressed support for Democratic candidates.
Altogether, the world’s 10 wealthiest people gained a collective $64 billion, marking what Bloomberg describes as the “biggest daily increase” in wealth since the index’s inception in 2012.
Wednesday’s market rally came on the heels of a swift election conclusion, with expectations that Trump’s presidency will bring in an era of fewer businesses policies or rules favorable to businessmen, particularly billionaires who own substantial assets.
“There is this huge perception of a business-friendly, tax-friendly regime coming into place, especially with them winning the Senate,” said Michael Block, COO at AgentSmyth.
Additionally, shares of Trump’s social media company, Truth Social, skyrocketed in value after CNN and other outlets projected Trump’s win. The stock initially surged as much as 35% before slightly reducing.
Trump, as the majority shareholder of the conservative social media company, briefly saw his 114.75 million shares valued at about $5.3 billion based on early gains, up from $3.9 billion when trading closed on Election Day.