- Two crypto moguls' joint wealth rose by about $15 billion on the back of Trump's election victory.
- Binance's Chaopeng Zhao and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong added about $12 billion and $2.6 billion each.
Two cryptocurrency tycoons saw a near-$15 billion boost to their combined wealth on Wednesday as Donald Trump won the presidential election.
Changpeng Zhao, who founded Binance and owns an estimated 90% of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, saw his net worth soar by about $12 billion or 30% to roughly $53 billion, propelling him into 25th place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhao was the second-biggest wealth gainer for the day, behind only Elon Musk who became grew $26.5 billion richer as Tesla stock soared.
The man known as "CZ" resigned as Binance CEO in November 2023 and was incarcerated for four months this year after pleading guilty to charges that Binance broke anti-money laundering rules.
Brian Armstrong, CEO and cofounder of crypto exchange Coinbase, saw his net worth jump by about $2.6 billion or 30% on Wednesday to reach $11 billion, per the Bloomberg list.
Bitcoin, the most popular crypto, surged to record highs of about $75,000 on hopes that digital currencies will face an easier regulatory environment under Trump. Ethereum, Solana, Ripple, Dogecoin, and other tokens have also jumped following the former president's reelection.
The Republican candidate's decisive victory over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, has relieved concerns in financial markets about a contested election outcome and fueled excitement about Trump's proposed tax cuts and deregulation.
One result was the world's 12 richest people grew more than $70 billion richer in a single day, per Bloomberg's wealth rankings. Musk led the charge but Oracle's Larry Ellison also gained about $10 billion, while Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Amazon's Jeff Bezos gained more than $7 billion each.
All but one of the 12 individuals have become wealthier this year. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault is down $34 billion as signs of a luxury slowdown grow. Exclude him and his 11 peers have grown a combined $505 billion richer this year — a figure that exceeds the market value of Oracle ($502 billion).