The financial worth chief executive officers of five iconic American businesses has surged in the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory as the stock-market bull run has continued to rage out of control, seemingly setting new record highs on a daily basis.
Collectively, the CEOs of the 30 companies in the he Dow Jones industrial average have seen the value of their shares grow by $402 million, according to research company Equilar, which calculated their returns in mid-February.
“The stock holdings of two bank leaders accounted for two-thirds of the value gained since November. Goldman Sachs (GS) head Lloyd Blankfein and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon are jointly $295 million richer than they were on Nov. 7,” CBS MarketWatch recently reported.
CBS listed the five chief executives who have made out the best in the first three months of the Trump presidency:
- Lloyd Blankfein: The chief executive of Goldman Sachs, has seen the value of the company stock he owns grow by $159 million since Nov. 7. Blankfein owns 2.4 million shares of Goldman, according to Equilar.
- Jamie Dimon: The JPMorgan Chase CEO owned 6.7 million shares of JPMorgan stock in November -- far and away the largest amount of any Dow 30 executives. “The bank's stock has surged 29 percent since the election, making Dimon's personal share larger by a healthy $138 million,” CBS reported.
- Tim Cook: Since Election Day, the value of Apple shares has risen nearly 25 percent. Cook owns just over a million of those shares, making his personal holdings bigger by $27.3 million, CBS reported.
- Kenneth Chenault: The American Express CEO has seen company shares jump nearly 20 percent. “He owned just over a million American Express shares in November, and they've since appreciated in value by a cool $13.3 million,” CBS reported.
- Dennis Muilenburg: Boeing's stock has risen by 24 percent since the election, which translates into an additional $5.9 million for CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who owns just over 171,000 shares in the company.
Meanwhile, Trump has filled posts in his administration with current former Goldman employees, who will fill at least five top jobs in his administration.
The move to tap Goldman's talent pool comes after Trump derided Wall Street and singled out the firm as a symbol of greed during his campaign. However, Trump has tapped a number of its alumni to help lead the government, Bloomberg reported.
Highlighting Trump's cherry-picking of Goldman veterans:
- Steven Mnuchin, a former partner at the bank, has been picked to be Treasury secretary.
- Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn has been tapped for a top White House economic post.
- Stephen Bannon, another alumnus of the firm, has been named chief strategist.
- Goldman partner Dina Powell has been selected to become a White House economic adviser.
- Jay Clayton, a Wall Street lawyer picked to head the Security and Exchange Commission, represented Goldman in private practice.
“The Goldman and Wall Street takeover of government raises incredibly serious concerns,” Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets, which backs tougher financial regulation, told the Financial Times.
“They’re not evil people. The problem is their whole life — their thinking and net worth and measure of success — is invested in the mentality that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.”
However, on the presidential campaign trail, Trump accused primary rival Ted Cruz of being controlled by Goldman Sachs because his wife, Heidi, previously worked for the Wall Street giant. He slammed Hillary Clinton for receiving speaking fees from the bank.
"I know the guys at Goldman Sachs. They have total, total control over him," Trump said of Cruz during the campaign. "Just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton."
Activists also have criticized Goldman’s role in the U.S. housing crisis and the long history of its former executives taking senior posts in government, Bloomberg has reported.
(Newsmax wire services AP and Bloomberg contributed to this report).
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