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Bloomberg
Not even Donald Trump can put the brakes on China’s wealth-creation machine. The 36 Chinese billionaires on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index have increased their wealth by 13.2 percent since the real estate mogul was elected US president on Nov. 8, a $39.2 billion increase that’s pushed their combined net worth to $336 billion. The gains top those seen by billionaires in any other country outside the US, even as Trump has called China a currency manipulator whose trade policies have led to the loss of American jobs.
For Mexico’s wealthiest, returns have headed in the other direction. Trump’s attack on America’s southern neighbor have hammered the peso and reversed the double-digit gains its richest had in the 11 months prior to the election. Since Nov. 8, the fortunes of the eight billionaires have fallen 5.1 percent, a drop softened by the central bank’s announcement in February that it plans to support the currency and a Feb. 23 visit from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.
Carlos Slim, the richest person in Latin America with $50.7 billion, had the biggest decline, $4.2 billion. Russia’s billionaires, meanwhile, are finding it pays to have a friend in the White House. The 28 Russians on the index have added $24.4 billion to their fortunes. The 10.5 percent increase has lifted their combined wealth to $256 billion on the back of rallies for commodities and the ruble amid speculation that relations between the countries will improve.
In all, the world’s richest have become $207 billion richer since Trump was elected as the first billionaire president in US history and have a combined net worth of $4.6 trillion, according to the Bloomberg index, a daily ranking of the 500 wealthiest people on the planet.
The fortunes of the 45 US finance industry billionaires on the index rose 6.7 percent to $403 billion, compared with a 4.2 percent rise for 126 other Americans on the ranking. The post-election rally reversed the declines the finance billionaires had prior to the vote and picked up steam after Trump said in January he was going to do a “big number†on the Dodd-Frank law that governs financial institutions.