It seems like billionaires are everywhere nowadays. Some of them have made it to our former and future President Donald Trump’s cabinet, administration, and shadow inner circle of sorts; some of them are worth much more on paper than he is, but it’s the company you keep, after all.
We might as well start with the world’s richest man: Elon Musk, who spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars backing Trump and was tapped to cochair a nongovernmental advisory body. Oh, and Musk’s partner in it all? Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican primary presidential candidate before he dropped out and endorsed Trump. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts Musk’s total net worth at $362 billion, and counting. His cochair’s is much less, reportedly $1 billion, per research from Axios and Americans for Tax Fairness. These two men are not cabinet members; they are nongovernment appointees, but Trump appointees nonetheless.
Then there are his cabinet-level secretary picks, which require Senate confirmation. Howard Lutnick, who was tapped for commerce secretary, is an investment banker. Axios estimates Lutnick’s personal wealth at $2 billion. Linda McMahon, appointed education secretary, has a net worth estimated to be $2.6 billion, per Axios. For his interior secretary, Trump chose Doug Burgum, whose wealth is estimated to be $1.1 billion, according to Axios.
Other noncabinet appointees who are reported billionaires include Jared Isaacman, who was tapped to run NASA, and who has a net worth of $1.8 billion, according to Forbes. Oh, and let’s not forget those who are not actual appointees, but inner circle peeps nonetheless: Billionaires Marc Andreessen, Bill Ackman, and Travis Kalanick are reportedly getting involved in Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
There are other names floated who may be billionaires, but it is unclear if they are indeed that wealthy.
See the preliminary list of Trump 2.0 billionaires below.
- Elon Musk: cochair, Department of Government Efficiency; personal wealth: $362 billion, according to Bloomberg; Tesla and SpaceX chief executive and founder or owner of others
- Vivek Ramaswamy: cochair, Department of Government Efficiency; personal wealth: $1 billion, according to Axios; founder of Roivant Sciences
- Howard Lutnick: commerce secretary; personal wealth: $2 billion, according to Axios; Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive
- Linda McMahon: education secretary; personal wealth: $2.6 billion, according to Axios; former World Wrestling Entertainment chief executive
- Doug Burgum: interior secretary; personal wealth: $1.1 billion, according to Axios; North Dakota governor
- Warren Stephens: ambassador to U.K.; personal wealth: $3.4 billion, according to Forbes; chief executive of Stephens Inc.
- Charles Kushner: ambassador to France; personal wealth: $2.9 billion, according to Axios; real estate developer and Trump in-law (and pardoned by Trump four years ago)
- Jared Isaacman: NASA chief; personal wealth: $1.8 billion, according to Forbes; Shift4 Payments chief executive and two-time SpaceX crew lead
- Kelly Loeffler: Small Business Administration chief; personal wealth: $1.1 billion, according to Axios; former senator and former Bakkt chief executive
