The wealthiest administration in history: Who are Trump’s picks and how much wealth do they have?
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is on track to break the record he set in 2016 for appointing the wealthiest cabinet in history, tapping billionaires for his next administration.
Elon Musk: The Tesla and SpaceX founder has become one of Trump’s closest confidants in recent months and has been tapped, alongside fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory board that will work to “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies,” according to Trump (Forbes valuation: $337.3 billion).
Warren Stephens: Trump’s choice for UK ambassador, a role that requires Senate confirmation, Stephens is a major Trump donor who heads the Arkansas-based investment bank Stephens Inc., which was founded by his uncle nearly a century ago and is known for its role in Walmart’s 1970 initial public offering (Forbes valuation: $3.4 billion).
Linda McMahon: The former WWE CEO is Trump’s pick for Education secretary, pending Senate approval; she co-chaired his transition team alongside fellow billionaire Howard Lutnick and served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term before chairing the America First Policy Institute, a think tank that raised millions to elect Trump (Forbes valuation: $3.4 billion).
Jared Isaacman: The latest billionaire tapped by Trump on Wednesday as administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Isaacman is the founder and CEO of the Pennsylvania-based processing firm Shift4 Payments who founded the defense firm Draken International in 2011 and sold it to Blackstone in 2019 for a reported nine-figure sum (Forbes valuation: $3 billion).
Howard Lutnick: Co-chair of Trump’s transition team, the Cantor Fitzgerald CEO is Trump’s pick for commerce secretary. (Forbes valuation: $1.5 billion).
Vivek Ramaswamy: A biotech entrepreneur and one of the youngest billionaires in the country, Ramaswamy built his wealth through Roivant Sciences (Forbes valuation: $1 billion).
Trump has selected several other wealthy (but not billionaire) individuals to serve in his administration. $340 billion. That’s the combined net worth of Trump’s cabinet nominees and appointees.
