Trump overtakes Soros on world rich list

The former US president’s net worth has jumped $4 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index

Former US President Donald Trump is now richer than billionaire financier George Soros, after his social media company’s successful debut on Nasdaq this week added billions of dollars to his fortune.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Trump’s net worth has soared by more than $4 billion this year to an estimated $7.8 billion.

Trump ranked 328th on the list at Wednesday’s market close, while the 93-year-old Soros was down in 375th with an estimated $7.2 billion net worth. A hedge fund manager, Soros shot to infamy for crashing the British pound in 1992.

Meanwhile, Trump’s increased wealth also placed him above the likes of billionaire entrepreneur and ABC ‘Shark Tank’ star Mark Cuban ($7.3 billion), Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus ($6.9 billion), oil-dynasty heir Gordon Getty ($6.2 billion), and Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings ($5.9 billion).

The former US president’s net worth more than doubled this year thanks to his 58% stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, which effectively went public this week after merging with Digital World Acquisition Corp. Trump Media stock, whose new ticker corresponds to the former president’s initials, has attracted significant attention, gaining nearly 60% in the first half hour of trading on Monday.

This comes as Trump faces hundreds of millions of dollars in growing legal fees and penalties as a result of numerous lawsuits, which the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has denounced as spurious and politically motivated.

READ MORE: Trump platform dominates on stock market debut

As part of a process in which New York State Attorney General Letitia James accused Trump’s business of fraud, Judge Arthur Engoron last month demanded a $454 million bond for the former president to even file an appeal. James was preparing to seize Trump’s Manhattan properties when an appeals court announced on Monday that it would reduce the bond to $175 million and extend the filing deadline by ten more days.

Earlier this month, Trump was forced to raise a bond of $91.6 million to appeal a defamation judgment against E. Jean Carroll. Trump is still appealing the $5 million judgment a jury awarded to Carroll last May after determining the former president had sexually abused her.