Donald Trump’s re-election marked a moment of great hope for the billionaires who had supported him. But just over two months after his inauguration, reality turned out to be very different from what they had imagined. Those who had seemed like the biggest beneficiaries of his presidency, with a surge in stock markets that had inflated their wealth, found themselves facing a reversal that drastically eroded their fortunes. Bloomberg, calculates that $209 billion have been burned.
The period following Trump’s takeover had seen a real boom for the world’s wealthiest men. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and others saw their companies soar, with skyrocketing profits that promised a rather prosperous future. Tesla’s stock, for example, had increased by 98% immediately after the billionaire’s re-election, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was setting numerous records. However, the initial enthusiasm quickly gave way to a sharp decline.
In just a few weeks, promises of economic growth and tax benefits clashed with a reality marked by political and economic uncertainties. The S&P 500, which had been the symbol of prosperity during the Republican election campaign, experienced a 6.4% loss, a trend that continued dramatically, with a 2.7% drop in a single day.
The companies that had propelled the billionaires to the top of the wealth ladder, from Tesla to Amazon, from Meta to LVMH, faced devastating losses. Musk’s company, which had reached a record capitalization of $486 billion, saw this figure evaporate, with the stock losing all the gains made. From Germany to China, car sales collapsed, and heavy losses were reported in key markets. Amazon, owned by Jeff Bezos, who had chosen to donate a million dollars to the GOP leader for Inauguration Day, saw its stock value slide 14% since the President’s swearing-in.
Even the fortunes of Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg, co-founders of Google, saw their value drastically reduced. The uncertainty surrounding tariff policies and signs of a global economic crisis weighed heavily on the stocks of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and Meta, despite initial gains linked to the company’s recovery in the post-election period. Even the French giant LVMH, which owns some of the most prestigious brands in the world and is controlled by Bernard Arnault, saw its market capitalization plummet after an initial peak, with fears that potential tariffs on European luxury goods could further undermine results.
About two months after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the dreams of a golden era have dissolved amidst uncertainties and losses. The companies that had built their empires on promises of liberalism and fiscal favors now find themselves facing a far more complex financial reality than they could have imagined. The great capitalists who had supported Republican policies now face one of the largest wealth losses in recent times, reshaping an unexpected chapter in their economic history.
