Forbes Daily: Elon Musk Gets Richer As His Risky Bet On Trump Pays Off

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Good morning,

The economy ranked as most voters’ top issue in this election. But with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the price of everyday items could get more expensive.

One of the key proposals Trump campaigned on was tariffs on foreign-made goods, which would make a slew of imported items cost more. Trump has argued such a move would bring manufacturing back to the United States, but policy experts resoundingly agree that the consumer overwhelmingly bears the costs of tariffs.

With Trump tariffs instituted, the price of goods that a household needs monthly, from clothing and housewares to consumer electronics, would “go up an average of 1.5 to 5.1%,” according to Yale Budget Lab Director of Economics Ernie Tedeschi.

FIRST UP

With Donald Trump retaking the White House, the stage is set for one of his biggest backers, billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to wield his newfound political influence, though it’s unclear what role he could play in the administration. Trump referred to Musk as a “super genius” in his victory speech, and the SpaceX founder has embraced the idea of heading a “Department of Government Efficiency” that would aim to cut $2 trillion or more from the federal budget.

MORE: Musk’s willingness to make risky bets with his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, no doubt contributes to his reputation and wealth. And no bet seemed riskier than his high-profile, big-dollar bet on Trump—but whether a billionaire who runs five companies joins a Trump Administration or not, the support will likely mean lighter federal scrutiny of Musk’s businesses.

Shares of Tesla skyrocketed 15% Wednesday, as Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, saw his net worth increase by $21 billion to $285.6 billion, one of a number of billionaires who became richer Wednesday. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote earlier this year that a second Trump presidency would be an “overall negative for the EV industry,” but the financial services firm viewed it as a “huge positive for Tesla” because the company has the “scale and scope that is unmatched” in the industry.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Trump’s win spiked the value of the U.S. dollar and bond yields, a sign of both investor optimism in strong economic growth and concerns about inflation. “Correct or not, the market views Republican control of Washington as negative for the debt and deficits,” wrote Sevens Report founder Tom Essaye in a Wednesday note to clients. If there is climbing debt, coupled with concerns about the impact on prices due to tariffs, inflation could remain elevated for longer than expected.

All three major U.S. indexes reached new heights Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average seeing its largest point gain since April 2020. Tesla, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase were the biggest percentage gainers of S&P companies valued at $100 billion or more, with shares of each company rising at least 11%.

Trump’s victory is sure to have implications for the fintech industry, and experts and executives told Forbes there are four key areas to watch: banking regulation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, fintechs’ partnerships with banks to offer banking services and a new CFPB rule governing consumers’ control over their banking data. They agreed major changes are coming to the CFPB, with activity likely slowing after the agency has been more active than it was under Trump’s first term.

WEALTH + ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Real estate mogul Jeff Greene is Trump’s neighbor in Palm Beach, Florida, and while he’s a registered Democrat who did not support him in the election, he told Forbes he remains optimistic about the economy under a second Trump Administration. Still, he’s concerned about the national debt, and says the government needs to find ways to raise revenue and cut expenses without hurting those who have legitimate economic needs.

MONEY + POLITICS

In his first days in office, Trump plans to focus on immigration, Iran, the Russia-Ukraine war and the oil and gas industry, his advisors said Wednesday, hours after he decisively beat Vice President Kamala Harris to win a second term. Trump senior advisor Jason Miller told NBC on Wednesday that the president-elect would reinstate border policies from his first term and “get back to drilling,” while campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Trump would bring Russia and Ukraine to the bargaining table, though he hasn’t said whether he wants Ukraine to win.

Trump’s return to the White House could give him even more influence over the Supreme Court, as the ex-president may be able to appoint multiple justices to the high court. There are no vacancies on the nation’s highest court right now, but Trump’s election has raised speculation that its oldest justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, could decide to retire while the White House and Senate are in conservative hands.

SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE

Trump has indicated he would appoint noted vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a key health role in his administration, and the former independent presidential candidate has already said he would seek to remove fluoride—a mineral added to drinking water that has been credited with improving dental health and preventing cavities—from tap water. Trump has not stated what role Kennedy would be appointed to, though the Washington Post reported he may appoint him to a “health czar” role, circumventing the Senate confirmation he would need to lead a government agency.

The European Union’s climate monitoring body said Thursday it was “virtually certain” that 2024 will be the planet’s hottest year on record, ahead of the UN’s COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan and Trump’s return to the White House—who will likely pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. According to the forecast, 2024 will be the first calendar year on record where the global average temperature is more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the pre-industrial average, a threshold the signatories of the Paris Climate Agreement have set as the preferred limit for the increase in global temperatures above pre-industrial numbers.

TRENDS + EXPLAINERS

President-elect Donald Trump has suggested he would use the FBI and Justice Department to prosecute his political rivals if he returned to office, which could see him go after people like President Joe Biden, former Attorney General Bill Barr, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Special Prosecutor Jack Smith. Before his victory Tuesday, Trump and his allies hashed out plans for using the federal government to punish critics and opponents, the Washington Post reported, and Trump had reportedly told advisors and friends he wanted to go after one-time allies who’d become critical of his time in office.

DAILY COVER STORY

Here’s What Billionaires Are Saying Online In Response To Trump’s Victory

TOPLINE As votes rolled in, showing the billionaire former president Trump poised to retake the White House, some of his fellow conservative billionaires rallied on X.

Some were celebratory, like crypto billionaire Tyler Winklevoss, who posted, “We are on the brink of a new American Renaissance.” Some began explaining Trump’s surge, like surrogate and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who claimed that “voters are rejecting censorship, lawfare, and dishonesty.”

Liberal billionaires, meanwhile, seemed largely silent, a change from earlier on Election Day. LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman posted a video at 5 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday declaring that “This election isn’t about minor policy disagreements. It’s about truth vs. fiction, the rule of law vs. chaos, and democracy vs. fascism.” Businessman Mark Cuban, who had hit the campaign trail for Harris, wrote that he was “having a blast Facetiming students waiting in longgg lines @unccharlotte,” adding that voting for Kamala Harris is “worth it!” Neither posted anything election-related after 7 p.m., when polls began closing in key states, until Cuban addressed congratulations to Trump and deleted some of his pro-Harris posts.

The wealthy have always weighed in on politics, but their ability to do so has ramped up in the last decade or so. They can now make unlimited donations, so these days each election is more expensive than the last.

And in the era of social media, they can talk directly to legions of people who consider them worth listening to. Forbes analyzed posts on X since October 1 from the richest 200 American billionaires with accounts we could find. Billionaires often have large followings on X—Musk, the most-followed person on his platform, has over 200 million followers. Overall, the 2,000-plus posts about the election from those accounts have been viewed 10 billion times.

WHY IT MATTERS “Billionaires have enormous sway over our elections, both because of their wealth but also because of their followings,” say Forbes reporters Phoebe Liu and Kyle Khan-Mullins. “Forbes tracks what they say online because their voices carry outsized weight in our national conversations and their posts garner billions of views.”

“Now, one of their own is back in the White House, meaning that Donald Trump’s billionaire allies will have that much more say over how the country is run. And many billionaire businessmen—including some who didn’t back Trump during his campaign—are cozying up to Trump with congratulatory messages, which could foreshadow how he works with big business in his second term.”

MORE The Billions Behind The 2024 Presidential Election

FACTS + COMMENTS

The election wasn’t nearly as close as pollsters predicted. Trump gained more points than expected among key demographics like Black voters and young people:

Six points: Harris’ margin with Latino voters, a steep decline from Biden’s 33-point edge in 2020 and Clinton’s 38-point advantage eight years ago, exit poll data shows

5.5 points: The upward shift of Trump’s margin in majority-Black counties, the Guardian reported

More than 50,000: The decline in votes cast for Democrats in Philadelphia compared to the last election, while Trump improved his margins in major cities

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

Regardless of the election results, it’s important to plan for your financial future for the next four years. First, gauge your cash flow, aim to build up your emergency fund, set clear short- and long-term goals and prioritize repaying debt. It’s also critical to keep an eye on new tax policies, which can affect your tax bracket or the deductions and credits you’re eligible to claim, as well as healthcare, which can impact your access to care and your insurance costs.

VIDEO

QUIZ

Many Americans often talk about moving abroad after an election, and search data following Tuesday’s contest shows interest is high once again. According to Google Trends, queries for “how to move to” which country increased by 400% by 8 p.m. on election night?

A. Spain

B. Canada

C. Ireland

D. Italy

Check your answer.

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Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire, Chris Dobstaff and Caroline Howard.