On Wednesday, the world's 10 richest individuals experienced a significant increase in their wealth, as reported by Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. The top gainer was Elon Musk, the wealthiest person globally and a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, whose wealth surged by $26.5 billion to reach $290 billion. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, saw his wealth grow by $7.1 billion, just a week after defending his decision regarding the Washington Post's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle and another Trump supporter, witnessed a rise of $5.5 billion in his net worth.
Other notable 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 did not endorse any candidate in the recent election, they have previously expressed support for Democratic candidates and causes.
Collectively, the top 10 richest individuals saw a combined increase of $64 billion in their wealth, marking the largest daily surge since the inception of the Bloomberg Billionaire Index in 2012. The market rallied on Wednesday following the swift conclusion of the election, with expectations that Trump's presidency would bring about a new era of deregulation and pro-business policies, which investors believe could benefit the stock market, particularly billionaires who hold a significant portion of the world's wealth.
Michael Block, the chief operating officer at AgentSmyth, highlighted the perception of a business-friendly and tax-friendly regime under Trump's leadership, especially with the Senate win. Additionally, Trump's social media company, Truth Social, experienced a surge in share value, with projections of Trump's victory in the election further boosting the stock. As the dominant shareholder in the conservative social media platform, Trump's shares briefly reached a value of about $5.3 billion, up from $3.9 billion on Election Day.
