The president-elect who promised during the campaign to “make America rich again” is equipping his administration with billionaires and officials who know what it’s like to be comfortable.
It is estimated that the more than a dozen billionaires appointed to Trump’s new Cabinet have a combined wealth of nearly $500 billion.
That’s a staggering number compared to the net worth of current Joe Biden administration leaders, who are collectively estimated at just over $100 million.
Donald Trump’s most prominent bromance was with the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, although Musk’s role as co-leader of a Department of Governmental Efficiency falls outside the government and has no formal rules.
But he is just one of a number of astonishingly wealthy people joining Trump in his second term.
Trump, whose net worth is estimated to be worth around $5 billion due to the value of his shares in his media company, has plucked advisers from the business, real estate and financial worlds.
Now they’ll all listen to him as he considers a permanent extension of his tax cuts, plus plans to lay off a slew of government workers, streamline government regulations, and ‘drill, baby, drill’ to boost US energy production above current highs to bring.
Here’s a look at just some of the most wealthy officials who served the Trump administration, excluding mere millionaires in the low single digits:
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk
The advisor with the biggest checkbook is also the one with the most influence, at least in the beginning. SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who used his X-platform to power Trump’s victory and torpedo a government funding bill, is worth more than $400 billion, according to Forbes.
He has spent over $250 million to support Trump while campaigning for him in Pennsylvania, handing out $1 million lottery prizes to people who signed petitions.
His wealth has soared since the election, with much of the growth coming from SpaceX, which wins big government contracts.
Howard Lutnick
Trump’s pick to lead the Commerce Department, Howard Lutnick, is the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald.
Elon Musk’s net worth was reportedly over $400 billion. But the richest man in the world is one of the billionaires who advise Trump, and is a billionaire himself
The president-elect who promised during the campaign to “make America rich again” is filling his government with billionaires
According to Forbes, he is worth at least $1.5 billion and has been a top adviser to Trump’s transition.
Tiffany’s father-in-law Massad Boulos
Massad Boulos, whom Trump has appointed as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs, is just one of the members of his extended family he is bringing into the administration.
Boulos, who is called a billionaire but whose exact wealth is not known, is the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany Trump.
WWE CEO Linda McMahon
Another financial star, Linda McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, has an estimated net worth of $3 billion. Forbes. Her lawyer confirmed her divorce from Vince McMahon last month.
The former head of the Small Business Administration will become Trump’s Secretary of Education.
Former Senator Kelly Loeffler, whose net worth is estimated at more than $1 billion, is Trump’s pick to lead the Small Business Administration
WWE President and CEO Linda McMahon will serve as Secretary of Education in the second Trump administration
Trump’s pick for Commerce Secretary, Cantor Fitzgerald, Chairman and CEO Howard Lutnick, is worth at least $1.5 billion
Jared’s father and Trump pardon Charles Kushner
Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, is a billionaire who has been nominated by Trump as US ambassador to France.
Trump pardoned Charles Kushner in the final days of his first term. The real estate billionaire has served a prison sentence for tax evasion and witness tampering over an incident in which he hired a prostitute to sleep with his brother-in-law to record it and send a tape to his sister.
According to Forbes, his family’s net worth is over $7 billion, with a $580 million stake in Kushner Companies. New York Magazine.
By the magazine’s count, the combined wealth of Trump’s announced nominees easily exceeds $14 billion and could exceed $20 billion, compared to the roughly $120 million net worth of President Biden’s Cabinet.
Soros fund manager Scott Bessent
Trump’s pick for Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, made his billions by advising George Soros’s management company, Soros Fund Management.
He was part of the team that helped make $1 billion by shorting the British pound.
Now the hedge funder’s net worth is estimated at billions, but exact figures are difficult to find. The answer will be revealed soon as he will have to fill out financial disclosure forms to take up the powerful post.
Former WNBA team owner Kelly Loeffler
Among the other very wealthy people who have joined Trump is former Senator Kelly Loeffler, whose fortune is estimated at more than $1 billion. She previously co-owned the Women’s National Basketball Association Atlanta Dream, but sold it in 2021 after clashing with players over the Black Lives Matter Movement. Trump picked her to lead the Small Business Administration.
Software exec and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum
Trump’s pick to lead the Interior Department is North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who ran for president and then vigorously defended Trump after he dropped out.
It is estimated that he is worth more than $100 million, after founding a software company and selling it to Microsoft.
Elon’s DOGE partner Vivek Ramaswamy
Musk’s partner at the DOGE is another former Trump challenger, Vivek Ramaswamy. His net worth is also over $1 billion, according to Forbes, after making prescription drug and biotech deals.
Dr. Oz
Because Republicans have a slim majority in Congress, Trump has made several choices from among the defeated candidates. Among them are Loeffler, Ramaswamy, Burgum and Mehmet Oz, who ran for Senate against John Fetterman two years ago.
He’s worth more than $100 million, maybe three times that, after his big break on “Oprah” and pitching nutritional supplements.
Ambassador to Great Britain chooses Warren Stephens
Trump has offered one of the most desirable ambassadorships, U.S. ambassador to Britain, to billionaire Warren Stephens and an Arkansas investor estimated to be worth more than $3 billion.
Leandro Rizzuto Jr.
That’s not even all the billionaires, with Trump’s NASA pick-tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman worth an estimated $1.7 billion, and Leandro Rizzuto Jr., who made a fortune running cosmetics company Conair, as ambassador to the Organization of American States.
Trump nominated Rizzuto to serve as ambassador to Barbados, but this stalled due to his past campaign tweets about former Trump appointees, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
He accused Cruz of having an affair, and another accused Cruz’s wife Heidi of pushing a plan to combine the governments of the US, Canada and Mexico. (Trump himself posted during the transition that Canada would become a US state).
Tom Barak
Tom Barrack, a real estate investor and private equity manager who oversaw Trump’s 2016 inauguration as ambassador to Turkey.
He was accused of acting as an agent for the United Arab Emirates without announcing it in 2022, but was acquitted. Forbes estimates his net worth at $1 billion.