When Donald Trump was sworn in for his second time period as president, he was surrounded by his billionaire benefactors: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg—all of whom both contributed to Trump’s presidential marketing campaign or showered him with money earlier than his inauguration.
Now, seven weeks later, because the financial system has plummeted beneath Trump, that very same group of billionaires has misplaced a major quantity of wealth.
In accordance with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the mixed web price of Bezos and Musk fell by a staggering $177 billion by March 10. Musk has confronted the most important decline, with the web price of Trump’s “first buddy” dropping by $148 billion because the markets closed on January 17.
And as the remainder of the financial system takes a success, Trump’s honeymoon interval appears to have come to a full cease.
The S&P 500 Index has decreased by 6.4% since Trump took workplace. And extra lately, the Dow Jones Industrial Common fell greater than 1,000 factors on Monday, with Trump’s reckless tariffs and sweeping federal layoffs being key contributors.
In accordance with Bloomberg, Musk’s monetary struggles primarily stem from a downturn at Tesla, whose inventory almost doubled after Trump’s victory final November. Since then, its figures have taken a nosedive, particularly in European nations like Germany, which have witnessed gross sales drop by greater than 70% in simply two months.
In the meantime, Tesla’s gross sales in China dramatically slowed to a staggering 49% in February, hitting ranges not seen because the summer season of 2022. It seems that “being a pompous Nazi” isn’t useful for enterprise.
However Musk does have one particular person supporting his enterprise: Trump.
The president introduced that he purchased a Tesla on Tuesday as a approach of bolstering his co-president’s dwindling gross sales.
“Elon Musk is’ ‘putting it on the line’ in order to help our Nation, and he is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! I’m going to buy a brand new Tesla tomorrow morning as a show of confidence and support for Elon Musk, a truly great American,” Trump wrote on Fact Social.
Bezos, alternatively, is bleeding his fortune as a result of equally poor option to align himself with Trump. Not solely did Bezos dine at Mar-a-Lago and announce plans for Amazon to distribute a documentary about Melania Trump, however he’s additionally adopted a extra aggressive stance along with his newspaper, The Washington Submit.
Final month, Bezos introduced that The Submit’s opinion part would publish tales tied to “personal liberties and free markets” with out showcasing opposing viewpoints. And on Monday, Ruth Marcus, a columnist and editor for The Submit, give up after the writer reportedly spiked a chunk of hers that dissented from Bezos.
Not solely have subscriptions to The Submit plummeted since Bezos made these modifications, however Amazon shares have dipped 14% since January 17.
Zuckerberg has additionally skilled some monetary losses, with Bloomberg reporting that Meta’s inventory rose 19% from mid-January to mid-February however has since misplaced these features.
As for the U.S. financial system, Trump has acknowledged that his tariff plans will trigger “a little disturbance,” which is able to absolutely intensify now that he’s elevated tariffs on Canadian aluminum and metal imports.
However whereas the president insists we’re not heading right into a recession, specialists disagree.
The general public is already starting to show towards Trump. How for much longer till his billionaire buddies do the identical?
