The Net Worth Of Donald Trump's Cabinet

Forbes

The collective net worth of Trump’s Cabinet—made up of two Wall Street financiers, several former CEOs and TV hosts and just one career politician—is the highest ever, even before counting the president.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2025/08/13/inside-the-richest-presidential-cabinet-ever/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, Inside the Richest Presidential Cabinet Ever.

00:06In October 2024, just a few weeks before the election,

00:10Donald Trump took a seat at a town hall outside Detroit.

00:14The billionaire to his right, transition chairman Howard Lutnick,

00:18leaned forward to explain the kinds of people Trump had in mind for his return to the White House.

00:24Lutnick said, quote,

00:25The best business leaders in the country, the best politicians want to serve.

00:30They will be loyal to him. They will have fidelity to him.

00:33They will follow his policies, and this will be the most extraordinary government you've ever seen.

00:39It is extraordinary indeed. Gone are the days of the generals willing to defy him.

00:45Now, Trump's most ardent supporters, from Wall Street to the studios of Fox News, fill the seats next to him.

00:53Even more notable is just how wealthy they are.

00:56The billionaire president has assembled the richest cabinet in U.S. history.

01:01Even without adding in Trump's own $5.5 billion net worth,

01:06Forbes estimates that his top advisors are worth $7.5 billion,

01:11more than doubling the $3.2 billion combined worth of Trump's 2019 cabinet.

01:17By contrast, Biden's cabinet of regular Joe's was barely worth $110 million combined in 2021.

01:26Most of the cabinet's staggering wealth comes from Lutnick, now Commerce Secretary,

01:32and Linda McMahon, the Education Secretary, both of whom are billionaires.

01:36Lutnick, Trump's top trade negotiator, has a net worth of $3.3 billion.

01:43He made his bones on Wall Street, taking over daily operations of Cantor Fitzgerald the year he turned 30.

01:50He entered the national consciousness on September 11, 2001,

01:54when the firm lost more than 600 employees, including Lutnick's brother, in the World Trade Center.

01:59Lutnick, who happened to be dropping his son off at kindergarten that day,

02:04built back Cantor and steered the firm, rooted in treasuries, toward real estate and cryptocurrencies.

02:11He made plenty of enemies along the way, while building himself a fortune.

02:15One former employee says, quote,

02:18The whole firm is about effing people. It's about squeezing people.

02:23Lutnick's two 20-something-year-old sons now help lead Cantor.

02:26Linda McMahon, Trump's Secretary of Education, has a net worth of $3.3 billion.

02:34McMahon and her now-estranged husband, Vince, bought his father's wrestling company in 1982

02:39and grew it into the global entertainment titan that World Wrestling Entertainment is today,

02:45with Linda serving as president or CEO from 1993 until 2009.

02:50Forbes estimates that they still own some 6.4 million shares in TKO Group,

02:55WWE's parent company, worth nearly $1.2 billion as of last week,

03:00and have amassed plenty of cash and other liquid investments as well.

03:05Also in Trump's cabinet are three men in their 60s,

03:08Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum,

03:12and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who each sit atop fortunes of at least $100 million.

03:18According to Forbes estimates, Besant's net worth is $600 million.

03:23Besant built a career on big-picture bets, inflation, currency valuations, and economic growth.

03:30He had much of his success working for GOP boogeyman George Soros,

03:34rising to the position of Chief Investment Officer at Soros Fund Management.

03:38However, Besant failed to generate consistent returns at his own hedge fund, KeySquare.

03:45Burgum, North Dakota's former governor, got about $100 million of Microsoft stock in 2001

03:51when the tech giant bought Great Plains Software, a business software company he led as CEO.

03:57Burgum's net worth is now more than $100 million.

04:01Wright, the Energy Secretary, made his fortune from a series of companies in the oil and gas industry,

04:07most notably Liberty Energy, a fracking firm he founded in 2011.

04:12Wright's net worth is currently $100 million.

04:16Then there is Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,

04:19who is largely shunned by his wealthy family,

04:22and a smattering of entrepreneurs and business people like Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Duremer,

04:27who co-founded an anesthesia practice in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, a doctor.

04:31The only career politician is Secretary of State Marco Rubio,

04:35one of 11 mere millionaires in the cabinet.

04:39Of course, no members of the cabinet are quite as wealthy as the man they serve,

04:43the only billionaire president in American history.

04:47For full coverage, and to see the net worth of each individual cabinet member,

04:51including those not mentioned here,

04:53check out Kyle Kahn Mullins' piece on Forbes.com.

04:57This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:00Thanks for tuning in.

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