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Donald Trump’s Administration Cabinet Is The Richest In American History: Will The Billionaires Fulfill The Promise Of Helping Working-Class Americans?

By Patrick Frye
Published on: 09:50 PST, Dec 2, 2016

Donald Trump is assembling a team of billionaires and multi-millionaires to be a part of his administration’s cabinet. Collectively, Trump’s cabinet could eventually be the richest in modern American history. It isn’t clear why the billionaire, who promised to work for the working class and targeted their displeasure with the financial elite, would surround himself with the same top 1 percent he publicly appeared to loathe.

As Republican President-elect Donald Trump slowly builds his cabinet, average, hard-working Americans might be growing apprehensive about his choices. It is apparent the soon to be 45th president of the United States is hand-picking billionaires and multi-millionaires to be part of his illustrious cabinet. Apart from selecting those who have inherited their millions and have been educated at the finest and most elite private schools that oodles of money can grant access to, Trump’s cabinet appears to be filling up with investment bankers and venture capitalists, and Wall Street insiders, among other affluent personalities.

Donald Trump, who is worth an estimated $3.7 billion according to Forbes – although he has routinely claimed he is worth far more – has been selecting people who have billions to their name, reported the Daily Mail. The following is the list of rich men and women Donald Trump has been selecting to be a part of his cabinet when he is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States in January.

Steven Mnuchin, who is Trump’s most recent selection, is believed to be worth at least $40 million. Mnuchin is expected to handle the portfolio of treasury secretary. Having worked on both Wall Street, and in Hollywood, Mnuchin made his millions at Goldman Sachs. He eventually founded the hedge fund Dune Capital Management LP. Some of the hit films Mnuchin financed include Gravity, The Lego Movie, and Magic Mike XXL.

Then there’s Wilbur Ross, a private equity investor who has been selected for the post of secretary of commerce. According to Forbes, Ross has a personal fortune estimated to be worth about $2.5 billion and is ranked No. 232 on the Forbes 400 of richest people in the world. The Yale and Harvard degree holder spent 25 years heading Rothschild Inc.’s bankruptcy practice. Thereafter, he set up investment firm WL Ross & Co at the turn of the century.

Ross’ deputy, Todd Ricketts, is the 66th richest person in America. His family owns the baseball team Chicago Cubs, which won the World Series this fall. His net worth is believed to be $1.73 billion. Interestingly, Ricketts’ father was a top donor to the Trump campaign. However, the reins of political spending have since been handed over to Todd.

Tom Price, who Donald Trump selected for the post of health and human services secretary, is believed to be worth $13.6 million. Michael T McCaul, a candidate for secretary of homeland security, is worth $117 million, while Mitt Romney, who could be secretary of state, is said to be worth $250 million, reported The Economic Times.

While these appointees are rich, Trump’s richest pick is Betsy DeVos. Selected to become education secretary, DeVos has been a huge GOP donor. Her family’s net worth is estimated by Forbes to be $5.1 billion. This makes her the 88th richest person in America. DeVos is married to Richard Marvin “Dick” DeVos Jr., whose father is a co-founder of Amway. Needless to add, she might be richer than Donald Trump himself.

Elaine Chao is the choice for incoming secretary of transportation, reported The Guardian. She is the daughter of a wealthy and powerful shipping magnate. However, her father came into wealth by inheriting millions from his mother who passed away in 2007. Chao is married to Mitch McConnell. While she is worth $9.2 million, her husband’s net worth is $36.5 million, the Washington Post had reported in 2014.

Interestingly, Donald Trump’s administration cabinet isn’t complete yet. He is expected to appoint Harold Hamm as secretary of energy. According to Forbes, Hamm is No. 30 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthy Americans. His net worth is estimated to be $16.7 billion. Besides Hamm, Trump could select Andrew Puzder as labor secretary. Moreover, the president-elect has already had a meeting with Goldman Sachs President and COO Gary Cohn, who is believed to have earned $22 million as salary in 2014.

[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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