Two hedge fund billionaires who advised Donald Trump on his campaign made over $1 billion on Wednesday as their shares were boosted by policies they helped to draft.
Carl Icahn and John Paulson reaped bigger rewards than any other Wall Street investors after Trump’s shock victory, as their shares in mining, pharmaceutical and fossil fuel companies soared.
The news is somewhat at odds with Trump’s central campaign message that he is the maverick outsider, standing up for the “little guy” against a corrupt Washington elite awash with corporate cash and beholden to Wall Street special interests.
Trump consistently attacked rival Hillary Clinton for speeches she made to Goldman Sachs, saying this was evidence she was in the pocket of the establishment.
Earlier this year Trump offered Icahn the position of Treasury Secretary if he won Tuesday’s election. Icahn declined the offer but by the time the market closed on Wednesday, he had raked in at least $700 million on his stock portfolio.
The hedge funder revealed he may have made even more money as he left a Trump victory party in the early hours of Wednesday morning to buy $1 billion more shares, anticipating a bounce.
Particularly notable was a $219 million windfall on petrol company, CVR Energy, after its value increased by almost a quarter. Trump’s manifesto unashamedly backs fossil fuels and pledges to repeal regulations aimed at cutting emissions whilst expanding fracking, which has been linked to pollution and earthquakes.
Icahn made another $100 million on his stake in mining and natural gas company, Freeport-McMoRan, which rose 8 per cent on the back of friendly Trump policies.
Another manifesto commitment pledges to “Unleash America’s $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, plus hundreds of years in clean coal reserves,” and “encourage the use of natural gas”.
The president-elect has also vowed to massively increase government spending on infrastructure, which will benefit mining companies who supply the raw materials. Icahn made a further $100 million on his holding company Icahn Enterprises and $65 million on his massive bet on insurer AIG.
John Paulson, another trump economic adviser, saw his portfolio boosted by $463 million on Wednesday, largely on the back of soaring pharmaceutical company shares. Drug prices have been highly controversial in America as pharma companies and hedge funders stand accused of squeezing vulnerable patients with huge cost increases.
Hillary Clinton put forward proposals to end “price gouging”, whereby companies buy rights to exclusive drug patents and raise the price by many multiples, leaving patients with the choice of paying up or going without treatment. Trump has indicated he will not crack down on the practice.
The property tycoon has also suggested he might allow drug companies to bring the tens of billions they have stashed offshore, back to the US without having to pay full tax.
This was particularly good news for Paulson who owns shares in Shire and Allergan, two American drug giants who have moved their headquarters to Ireland to avoid US taxes. Paulson netted over $168 million from his stakes in the two companies on Wednesday.
