China's billionaires have been crushing it under Trump

Alex Morrell,Andy Kiersz

Mar 1, 2017, 22:31 IST

China's billionaires are having a field day under Trump. Mexico's? Not so much. Pictured: Jack Ma, the richest man in China, with a net worth of $35.7 billion

President Donald Trump has verbally sparred with both China and Mexico since winning the presidency in November, lambasting the former over accusations of currency manipulation and stealing American jobs, and antagonizing the latter with trade threats and ominous promises of a border wall whose $20 billion price tag he vows the Mexicans will pay for.

But the richest people in China have seen their fortunes soar since the new president took over the world's largest superpower, while Mexico's richest have been far less fortunate, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

Since Trump's November 8 win, the 36 Chinese billionaires tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index have seen their wealth climb 13.2%, a $39.2 billion bump that puts their combined wealth at $336 billion. Jack Ma is China's richest, with a net worth of $35.7 billion.

The fortunes of Mexico's eight billionaires tracked on the index, suffering from a battered peso, have fallen 5.1%.

Mexico's Carlos Slim - the telecom magnate who also holds stakes in Philip Morris and The New York Times - has been the biggest loser under Trump. His fortune dropped $4.2 billion to $50.7 billion, which is still good enough for 6th richest in the world.

Overall, the richest people across the globe only saw a 4.7% increase to their net worth over the same period, according to the index, which Bloomberg recently expanded online to track the world's 500 richest people. These 500 tycoons increased their net worth by $207 billion to a combined $4.6 trillion since November 8, according to the daily ranking.

Andy Kiersz/Business Insider

Their financial performance has lagged behind the broader market, with the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average improving by 10.5% and 13.5%, respectively, since the election.

And what of the richest in Russia, the nation Trump has been perceived to have the coziest relations with? The 28 Russian billionaires tracked on the index have increased their wealth by 10.5%, raising their aggregate fortunes by $24.4 billion to $256 billion. They've benefitted from currency and commodities gains, according to Bloomberg.

The 171 US billionaires on the index have seen their combined net worth rise by about 4.7% since the election, adding $85 billion for a total of $1.9 trillion.