The fortunes of the ten richest people in the world surged by a daily record as Donald Trump won a second term as president.
The net worth of billionaires led by Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, surged by $63.5 billion on Wednesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk alone added $26.5 billion to his pot. Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos and Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison were also among the top gainers. It’s the biggest daily increase since Bloomberg’s wealth index began in 2012.
Much of the gains for the ultra-rich come down to a surge in US stocks, underscoring bets that Trump, on his return to the White House, will implement an agenda favouring lower taxes and less regulation. The S&P 500 jumped 2.5% in the best post-election performance in history, while the US dollar also gained.
“US financial assets, especially equities and the US dollar, should experience a boost,” Lombard Odier’s Samy Chaar, chief economist and CIO for Switzerland, and Luca Bindelli, head of investment strategy, wrote in a note to the wealth manager’s clients.
Only one of the world’s top 10 richest is based outside of the US; Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH.
Musk, who campaigned alongside the president-elect, is poised to influence policy since Trump has vowed to give him an official role. Tesla shares in New York surged 15% on Wednesday, extending gains over the past year to 32%.
Apart from Musk, other top gainers are crypto billionaires. Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc, saw his net worth soar 30% to $11 billion. Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, added $12.1 billion following the election, boosting his net worth to $52.7 billion.
