[imagesource:flickr]

Last Wednesday wasn’t just a winning day for Donald Trump; apparently, it was also a banner day for the world’s top 10 billionaires, who watched their wealth skyrocket to new heights—because clearly, they needed the extra cash.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, the rich got even richer… again.

The biggest winner? Elon Musk, dah. As the world’s richest person and one of Trump’s loudest cheerleaders, his fortune shot up by a cool $26.5 billion, bringing his net worth to a staggering $290 billion—according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos raked in $7.1 billion just a week after defending his choice to withhold the Washington Post’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, another Trump backer, saw his wealth climb with an extra $5.5 billion.

Other lucky gainers included Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Warren Buffett. Though they didn’t throw their hats in the ring for any candidate this year, they’ve certainly backed Democratic candidates in the past.

Together, the top 10 richest people saw their wealth surge by $64 billion—Bloomberg called it the “biggest daily increase” since its Billionaire Index began in 2012.

The stock market boomed as the election wrapped up quickly, fueled by the hope that Trump’s victory would usher in a new age of deregulation and business-friendly policies. Investors, of course, were all too happy to get in on the action, especially when it meant making the already-rich… well, even richer.

“There is this huge perception of business friendly, tax-friendly regime coming into place, especially with them winning the Senate,” said Michael Block, chief operating officer at AgentSmyth.

And let’s not forget about Trump’s own social media venture. Shares in Truth Social, his social media company, spiked 35% after CNN and other outlets projected his win. For a brief moment, Trump’s 114.75 million shares were worth about $5.3 billion, up from $3.9 billion on Election Day—because why shouldn’t the man with the most to gain also be the one to celebrate the loudest?

The sad reality is that millions of other lowly people are going to suffer majorly for all these gains at the top.

[source:cnn]