Topline
President-elect Donald Trump is on track to break the record he set in 2016 for appointing the wealthiest cabinet in history, tapping these billionaires for his next administration.
Elon Musk speaks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as they watch the launch of the sixth test … [+]
Key Facts
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 ( 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 ( 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 ( valuation: $3 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 ( valuation: $3 billion).
Howard Lutnick: Co-chair of Trump’s transition team, the Cantor Fitzgerald CEO is Trump’s pick for commerce secretary (which also requires Senate approval) and is well-known for rebuilding the financial services firm where he’s spent his entire career after the company lost 658 employees in the 9/11 World Trade Center attack ( 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, a company he founded nearly a decade ago that went public in 2021 and successfully brought several drugs to market, before he launched a bid for the presidency ( valuation: $1 billion).
Tangent
Trump has selected several other wealthy (but not billionaire) individuals to serve in his administration. Massad Boulos, father-in-law to Trump’s daughter, Tiffany Trump and CEO of a Nigerian motor vehicle company, is his choice for senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs. Trump selected financier John Phelan, founder of MSD Capital, as secretary of the Navy, and Charles Kushner, father-in-law to Ivanka Trump and founder of Kushner Companies real estate firm, as ambassador to France.
Big Number
$340 billion. That’s the combined net worth of Trump’s cabinet nominees and appointees, New York magazine reported on Dec. 1, before Trump nominated Stephens and Isaacman.
Key Background
Trump, a billionaire himself with an estimated net worth of $6.2 billion, has quickly filled out his cabinet since he won the election, gravitating toward wealthy appointees and Wall Street execs as he did during his first term, when historians said his cabinet was the richest in history. The news cycle surrounding Trump’s cabinet picks has been dominated by some of his more controversial nominees, including his initial attorney general pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who bowed out of the process amid a ballooning sexual misconduct scandal (Gaetz has denied the allegations). Trump’s pick for Defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is also on shaky footing after a 2017 sexual assault allegation against him was made public and more recently, accusations of alcohol abuse, all of which he’s denied.
Further Reading
Trump’s Cabinet And Key Jobs: Paul Atkins Picked For SEC Chief, Billionaire Jared Isaacman For NASA ()
Trumpiverse: Ranking Trump’s Inner Circle ()