Tech billionaire Elon Musk rakes in billions after Trump win set to become a trillionaire at the end of the decade if tariffs on Chinese EVs go ahead
Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election has led to the net worth of one of his biggest financial backers, Elon Musk, skyrocketing by $26.5 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
The Index is a ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people based on their net worth. It takes into account fluctuations in the share price of companies in which they have holdings.
Musk, the owner of Tesla, SpaceX CEO, and X, has led the ranking as the world’s wealthiest person with a fortune estimated at $290 billion.
Shares of Tesla surged by 14.8% on Wednesday as investors bet that Musk and his electric vehicle producer will benefit from Trump’s return to the White House.
Elon Musk. © Samuel Corum / Getty Images
Musk, who campaigned alongside the president-elect, supported Trump to the tune of millions of dollars since officially endorsing him in July. According to media reports, he donated about $119 million to the Republican’s political action committee.
Tesla, which dominates sales of EVs in the US with a market share of 48.9%, is expected to make sharp gains under a Trump administration, given the Republican’s plans for extensive tariffs on imports of Chinese cars.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Trump has repeatedly warned he will impose tariffs of up to 200% on vehicles imported from China.
“They’re going to pay a 100% or maybe even a 200% tariff because we’re not going to let them come into our country and destroy what’s left of our auto industry,” he pledged in October.
Earlier this month, Trump also promised the Tesla CEO a role in his administration. Musk has said he will seek to improve government efficiency by reducing the number of federal agencies if he is given a role in Donald Trump’s administration.
Musk, a Trump supporter, made the remarks during an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s online show, broadcast from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday.
Despite initially proclaiming political neutrality, Musk officially endorsed Trump after an assassination attempt on the president-elect in July. Trump promised the Tesla CEO that he would establish a special “government efficiency”commission, dubbed the DOGE, to be headed by the billionaire if he wins the election.
Speaking with Carlson, the tech billionaire said that he would like to help Trump make the US government more efficient.
“I’d be happy to help improve government efficiency,” Musk said. “We’ve got a gigantic government bureaucracy, we’ve got overregulation, we’ve got agencies that have overlapping responsibilities… this translates into real costs to people, they’re hidden costs but they are very substantial.”
Musk has invested millions of dollars in supporting Trump. According to media reports, he donated at least $118 million to the Republican’s political action committee, a group that focused on voter outreach.
Speaking at a Trump rally last month, Musk pledged to help the Republican slash US annual budget spending by “at least $2 trillion” as part of a review of federal agencies that he would carry out if Trump returns to the White House.
“Your tax money is being wasted and the Department of Government Efficiency is going to fix that,” Musk stated.
The tech billionaire has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the US debt, warning just last week that the country is spiraling toward bankruptcy and will quickly go bust if Washington doesn’t curb its spending.
Apart from Musk, the fortunes of a number of other billionaires also skyrocketed following Trump’s victory.
Amazon owner Jeff Bezos saw his net worth surge $7 billion to $223.5 billion, maintaining his position as the world’s second-wealthiest person behind Musk.
Crypto magnates also made out well. The net worth of Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Coinbase, soared by $2.6 to $11 billion, according to Bloomberg, while Binance crypto exchange founder Changpeng Zhao added $12.1 billion following the election, boosting his fortune to $52.7 billion.
Source X/RT/Bloomberg/AP