Donald Trump has never had a shortage of wealthy friends and supporters. That’s hardly surprising, given his lifelong passion for the trappings of wealth and power available to the scion of one of the richest families in the US.
But in recent months, a coterie of younger Silicon Valley ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs – of the type known as “tech bros” – has gravitated strongly towards Mr Trump in his presidential campaign in a manner with ominous implications for US economic policy, the relationship between business and government, and even the future of US democracy.
We may be witnessing the rise of a new breed of American oligarchs, in the worst sense of that term.
One of the most striking features of this coterie of would-be “Maga” oligarchs is the extent to which many have entirely changed their views regarding Mr Trump. One podcasting wealthy tech bro, Chamath Palihapitiya, used to deride Mr Trump in the most vulgar terms and wanted him to serve scores of years in prison for the January 6, 2020 insurrection against Congress. Now he showers the former president with praise and donations.
Others are a more natural fit into Mr Trump’s orbit. The founding figure of this group is Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder who spoke on behalf of Mr Trump at the 2016 Republican National Convention. He has long sought to translate personal wealth into political influence.
Mr Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, is a protege of Mr Thiel who discovered him as a Yale law school student and gave him his start in venture capital. Mr Thiel later funded Mr Vance’s successful Senate bid in 2022, the only significant Maga victory in a contested election other than Mr Trump’s own presidential win in 2016.
If Trump wins, he seems set to try to give his allies among the super-wealthy the kind of political clout their predecessors could only dream of
But the most prominent and dynamic member of the group is Elon Musk, one of the world’s richest men, who has taken to showing up at Trump rallies with extravagant displays of excitement and enthusiasm. Mr Musk is giving tens of millions to Mr Trump’s campaign. Some legal experts say his recent offer of $1 million to registered voters who sign petitions supporting conservative causes is, in effect, an offer to pay people for registering to vote. That would be a blatant violation of US election laws.
Mr Musk has played a significant role in facilitating, and more recently engaging in, the dissemination of highly damaging disinformation about the US political scene. Almost all of it seems intended to promote Mr Trump and the extreme right. He famously purchased Twitter, changing its name to X, and returned hundreds of right-wing extremists who had been previously banned for spreading incitement to violence, racism and dangerous disinformation (including about the Covid-19 pandemic) to that platform.
One of the under-appreciated characteristics that unites some of these figures is that they are white men who spent their childhoods living under – and benefitting, by virtue of their race – from apartheid. Mr Musk, Mr Thiel and David Sacks (another prominent pro-Trump venture capitalist) all share this background.
Their upbringing under the systematised inequalities of apartheid may well help to explain why all of them seem committed to the idea that human societies are inevitably divided between winners and losers, and that governance should be restricted to a natural aristocracy.
That heritage may well resonate with Mr Trump’s own upbringing. His father was famously arrested, although under murky circumstances, at a violent Ku Klux Klan rally in 1927. And one of the most formative experiences of Mr Trump’s early business career was the 1973 battle that he and his father waged against the administration of Richard Nixon – hardly a civil rights champion – over their systematic housing discrimination.
Mr Trump’s father had built an empire of working and middle-class housing in the outer boroughs of New York, particularly in the booming decades following the Second World War. When Mr Trump was brought on board to help run the company, it was accused of systematically instructing agents to mark all applications from African Americans with the letter C (standing for “coloured”), an indication not to rent to those prospective tenants, as has been widely reported in US media.
In the end, Mr Trump and his father settled with the government, promising to end the practice.
Mr Trump and the new crop of Silicon Valley would-be oligarchs seemingly recognise each other as kindred spirits. The tech bros are throwing their support behind him in the apparent hope that the personalised rule that he is promising can be used in their favour. At a minimum, they might hope to avoid government regulation themselves.
The wealthy in US have never lacked for influence. The details of its framing Convention show that the constitutional system was consciously designed to facilitate the political expression of financial power, while balancing that with the power of voting majorities. Since the Supreme Court held that political donations are a form of protected “free speech” and that corporations are legal persons with political rights, that has greatly intensified in recent decades.
But the new wannabe oligarchs now flocking around Mr Trump are either seeking to pioneer new ways of politically empowering themselves via their fortunes, or at least returning to the excesses of individual political clout among the super-wealthy characteristic of the Gilded Age at the turn of the 19th century. At the time, political reformers recognised this undue influence as a form of corruption and attack against the democratic system.
Led by Republican president Theodore Roosevelt, the progressives of the time broke up monopolies and restrained the worst excesses of individual and corporate financial power on the political system. But, if he wins, another Republican president, Mr Trump, seems set to try to give his allies among the super-wealthy the kind of political clout their predecessors could only dream of.
A personalised and autocratic presidential administration backed up by, and in turn favouring, personalised and politicised individual wealth has a familiar ring in today’s world. Its next epicentre could be in Washington.
What%20is%20cystic%20fibrosis%3F
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ECystic%20fibrosis%20is%20a%20genetic%20disorder%20that%20affects%20the%20lungs%2C%20pancreas%20and%20other%20organs.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIt%20causes%20the%20production%20of%20thick%2C%20sticky%20mucus%20that%20can%20clog%20the%20airways%20and%20lead%20to%20severe%20respiratory%20and%20digestive%20problems.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPatients%20with%20the%20condition%20are%20prone%20to%20lung%20infections%20and%20often%20suffer%20from%20chronic%20coughing%2C%20wheezing%20and%20shortness%20of%20breath.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ELife%20expectancy%20for%20sufferers%20of%20cystic%20fibrosis%20is%20now%20around%2050%20years.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More on animal trafficking
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nag%20Ashwin%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPrabhas%2C%20Saswata%20Chatterjee%2C%20Deepika%20Padukone%2C%20Amitabh%20Bachchan%2C%20Shobhana%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%E2%98%85%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2018 Maxus T60
Price, base / as tested: Dh48,000
Engine: 2.4-litre four-cylinder
Power: 136hp @ 1,600rpm
Torque: 360Nm @ 1,600 rpm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.1L / 100km
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
