What did Donald Trump do today?
He appointed at least his eighth billionaire so far to a major government position.
Today, Trump said that he would appoint investment banker Warren Stephens as the United States' ambassador to the United Kingdom.
In some respects, Stephens is an unusual choice for a prominent position in the Trump administration. He has never been publicly accused of rape or sexual assault, nor has he been caught covering up the sexual abuse of children at his businesses. He has never been accused or convicted of federal crimes, meaning he has never had to beg Trump for a pardon. He is not related by blood or marriage to Trump. He did not get the job by being someone Trump saw on TV. And while major ambassadorships often require extensive diplomatic experience, the posting to the Court of St. James has traditionally been a ceremonial one, with professional State Department staff carrying most of the load, so Stephens' complete lack of relevant experience is less of an issue.
There is one way that Stephens fits the Trump mold, though—he's one of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of $3.4 billion dollars. That is roughly 42,178 years' worth of the median annual household income in the United States.
Stephens (inherited money; family investment banking firm) joins other Trump (inherited money and evaded taxes; family real estate company) appointees with billions of dollars in wealth, including
- Charles Kushner, ambassador to France ($1.5B, inherited money; family real estate company)
- Linda McMahon, secretary of education ($3B; wealth from husband's entertainment company)
- Steve Witkoff, envoy to the Middle East ($1B, real estate)
- Massad Boulos, senior advisor ($10B, inherited money; family business conglomerate)
- Scott Bessent, secretary of the treasury ($1B, hedge funds and investment banking)
- Vivek Ramaswamy, honorary advisory board on "governmental efficiency" ($1.1B, inherited money; hedge funds and venture capital)
- Elon Musk, honorary advisory board on "governmental efficiency" (~$330B, inherited money; credit card processing, auto manufacturing, and government contracts)
Why does this matter?
- Having money, especially inherited money, is not the same thing as being qualified.
- It's bad if you need an unbelievable amount of money to have influence in the United States government.