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: The Tesla and SpaceX founder has one of Trump’s closest confidants in recent months and was chosen, along with fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, to lead the new Department of Government Effectiveness, a recommendation consultancy that will work to “dismantle government bureaucracy. “Decrease excessive regulations, cut unnecessary spending, and restructure federal agencies,” according to Trump (Forbes valuation: $430. 9 billion).
Tilman Fertitta: Owner of the Houston Rockets and the Landry’s restaurant and entertainment company, Fertitta is Trump’s choice for ambassador to Italy (Forbes valuation: $10. 4 billion).
Stephen Feinberg: Co-founder of personal equity firm Cerberus Capital Management (approximately $65 billion in assets under management), Feinberg was nominated by Trump as the next deputy secretary of defense after serving as chairman of the president’s advisory board. elected intelligence. his last term (Forbes valuation: $5 billion).
Warren Stephens: Trump’s choice as UK ambassador, a role that requires Senate confirmation. Stephens is a top Trump donor and runs the Arkansas-based investment bank Stephens Inc. , founded by his uncle nearly a century ago and known for his role. . during Walmart’s initial public offering in 1970 (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 (McMahon is married to former WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, who is worth an estimated $3 billion).
Jared Isaacman: Hired through Trump as NASA administrator, Isaacman is the founder and CEO of Pennsylvania-based processing company Shift4 Payments, which founded defense firm Draken International in 2011 and sold it to Blackstone in 2019 for a nine-figure sum (Forbes valuation: 1,800 million dollars).
Howard Lutnick: Co-chair of Trump’s transition team, Cantor CEO Fitzgerald is Trump’s pick for commerce secretary (which also requires Senate approval) and is well known for rebuilding the company financially, where he spent his entire career after the company lost 658 employees. in the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11 (Forbes valuation: $1. 5 billion).
Kelly Loeffler: The former Republican senator from Georgia, chosen by Trump to head the Small Business Administration, is married to the billionaire founder of the Intercontinental Exchange, Jeff Sprecher, whose net worth is estimated at $1. 1 billion.
Vivek Ramaswamy: A biotech entrepreneur and one of the country’s youngest billionaires, Ramaswamy built his wealth at Roivant Sciences, a company he founded almost a decade ago that went public in 2021 and has controlled the marketing of several drugs, before to launch a takeover bid for the presidency (Forbes valuation: $1 billion).
Trump has selected several other wealthy (but not billionaire) individuals to serve in his administration. John Phelan, founder of MSD Capital, was picked for secretary of the Navy, and Charles Kushner, father-in-law to Ivanka Trump and founder of Kushner Companies real estate firm, was chosen for ambassador to France. Massad Boulos—father-in-law to Trump’s daughter Tiffany Trump and Trump’s pick for senior Middle East advisor—has been widely cast as a major business titan, though The New York Times reports he runs a truck dealership in Nigeria worth about $865,000.
Trump, a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $6. 1 billion, has temporarily filled out his Cabinet since winning the election, turning to wealthy appointees and Wall Street executives as he did in his first term, when historians said his cabinet was the richest. in history. The news cycle surrounding Trump’s Cabinet picks has been dictated by some of his most contentious nominees, adding his original pick for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. , who withdrew from the proceedings in amid an unfolding sexual misconduct scandal (Gaetz has denied the allegations). Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is also on shaky ground after a sexual assault allegation against him in 2017 and, more recently, allegations of sexual abuse became public. alcohol, all of which he denied.
Trump’s Cabinet And Key Jobs: Paul Atkins Picked For SEC Chief, Billionaire Jared Isaacman For NASA (Forbes)
Trumpiverse: Ranking Trump’s Inner Circle (Forbes)
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