Bitcoin’s Record High Leads To Soaring Net Worths

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Good morning,

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to bring down drug prices, but his proposed tariffs would make everything from heart medicine to ibuprofen more expensive.

Medications have historically been exempt from tariffs, according to one expert at the University of Kansas, but the universal tariff Trump described on the campaign trail would hit nearly everything. The U.S. imports around $10.2 billion a year worth of pharmaceuticals from China alone, according to the Atlantic Council.

Even drugs manufactured on U.S. soil rely on global supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients. “Drug supply is not easy to change overnight,” Mariana Socal, associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Forbes.

FIRST UP

Inflation rose as expected last month, as price increases weighed on the minds of Americans this election season. It was the first time since March that annual inflation was up month-over-month, but financial markets responded positively, with the implied odds of another interest rate cut next month from the Federal Reserve rising from about 60% to 70%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Federal agents raided the home of predictions platform Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan Wednesday, though it’s unclear whether Coplan or Polymarket is the target of an ongoing investigation. FBI agents reportedly seized electronic devices, and a spokesperson for Polymarket suggested to Axios the raid was politically motivated.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

Bitcoin prices eclipsed $90,000 for the first time Wednesday, the latest milestone for the world’s largest cryptocurrency in its massive post-election rally. The total market value of bitcoin is nearly $1.8 trillion, more than doubling since the end of 2023, according to CoinMarketCap. And Forbes estimates that banks may be sitting on a paper profit of as much as $1.4 billion from the bitcoin surge.

MORE: Crypto’s wealthiest are also seeing their net worth soar: Forbes estimates that 11 of crypto’s top billionaires have collectively added $38 billion to their fortunes in 2024. Some $24 billion, or 63% of the total increase, occurred after September 1 as the industry became increasingly bullish on Donald Trump’s ultimate victory in the presidential election on November 5.

Dogecoin rose on Wednesday across a threshold the cryptocurrency has not eclipsed since 2021, after Trump tapped Elon Musk—who has touted the token in recent years—to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency. Trump said Tuesday that Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new department, whose acronymized name shares the name of the cryptocurrency.

TECH + INNOVATION

One of generative AI’s most promising uses is its ability to write code, and while some companies offer “copilots” that use AI to make coding suggestions, similar to autocomplete, others specialize in “agents” designed to carry out an entire coding project from start to finish. On Wednesday, buzzy AI startup Codeium unveiled a new tool called the Windsurf Editor, which aims to do a bit of both.

President-elect Donald Trump has called the climate crisis a hoax and promised to “drill baby drill” when he returns to office, but solar, wind and utility-scale battery projects are expected to keep growing regardless. “Most Americans think fossil fuels are cheaper as an electricity source than solar and wind,” says billionaire investor and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer, “and that’s not true.” Steyer plans to continue to use the $1 billion his firm has raised and future investments to back companies exploring renewables.

MORE: Trump has promised to undo the Biden Administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which provides $500 billion in tax credits and other subsidies for renewable energy projects. While environmental groups and investors in clean energy stocks have reacted with alarm to Trump’s victory, a repeal of the IRA is hardly a done deal, and subsidies aren’t absolutely necessary for the green revolution to continue.

MONEY + POLITICS

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general and named former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, the latest in a flurry of appointments to his Cabinet and White House staff. Gaetz issued his resignation from Congress “effective immediately” shortly after being tapped as the next attorney general. Trump also announced he nominated Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of state, confirming multiple reports earlier in the week.

MORE: Rubio is likely worth over $1 million, despite making a healthy salary as a U.S. senator for 14 years. Rubio’s non-real estate assets are worth between just $35,000 to $175,000, according to his latest financial disclosures, but he’s doing better in the real estate market these days.

Republicans in the Senate elected John Thune (R-S.D.) majority leader Wednesday, rejecting MAGA-backed candidate Senator Rick Scott and a third contender, Senator John Cornyn. Thune replaces Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the longest-serving party leader in Senate history who announced his retirement from the post in February.

Republicans officially clinched control of the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, giving the GOP control of both chambers of Congress and the White House. The Associated Press called the contest after Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) won reelection, giving Republicans the 218 seats needed to retain their majority.

SCIENCE + HEALTHCARE

An E. Coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers has sickened at least 104 people across the country, the CDC announced in its latest update Wednesday, although there appears to be no continued food safety concern as the fast food giant has resumed sales of its burgers. The CDC said that the number of hospitalizations from the outbreak has risen to 34, adding that four people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially life-threatening kidney condition.

TRENDS + EXPLAINERS

Accounts on X with large followings—such as actress Jamie Lee Curtis, journalist Don Lemon and The Guardian’s official news accounts—have decided to leave the platform after Donald Trump’s election. The Guardian newspaper—which controls dozens of accounts on the platform that have about 27 million followers combined—announced its plans to leave X on Wednesday, citing its worries about “far-right conspiracy theories” and racism, and alleging the presidential election confirmed “X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.”

DAILY COVER STORY

Tucker Carlson And The Dawn Of Rage-Driven Capitalism

TOPLINE Inside a barn in Maine that serves as Tucker Carlson’s headquarters, the former Fox News star tucks two nicotine pouches between his lips. It’s Election Day eve, but Carlson isn’t discussing the election despite campaigning for Donald Trump. “I hope we’re successful and make a ton of money, but this isn’t a business play,” says Carlson. “This is rage.”

He’s talking about the nicotine pouches, a brand he just launched in November with the Louisville, Kentucky–based Turning Point Brands in the $3 billion nicotine pouch market: Alp, of which he owns half, along with his business partner. Carlson uncharacteristically undersells the larger picture in a polarized country: how, increasingly, partisan rage is the business play.

Yes, rage-driven profits have already been a proven media formula for most of this century, pioneered by Carlson’s former employers Fox News, then aped by everyone from Newsmax and OAN on the right to MSNBC and the Young Turks on the left. This decade has seen a similar cleaving in social media, from Trump’s own Truth Social to Rumble, which cloned Twitter and YouTube from the right, respectively. (Twitter, reborn under Elon Musk as X, has also drifted this way.) Aside from almost $10 billion in combined market caps, these channels help fuel information echo chambers that may prove one of 2024’s most lasting (and civically dangerous) legacies.

Carlson and his company is a member of a new ecosystem of startups of the Trump era that create customers by imbuing otherwise apolitical businesses with partisan tribalism. These are real companies selling goods and services that people use every day, primarily with a right-wing tint to a right-wing audience.

To Carlson, 55, this new venture is about more than standing up for his values. It’s using commerce to give the finger to, well, pretty much everyone: corporate America, the morally outraged, and the politically correct. “It’s the entire world. It’s the entire pronoun world, the he/him, she/her bullshit world of corporate America that I just had it with,” he says. “I’m sick of it, and I’m not going to participate in it.”

WHY IT MATTERS “Donald Trump’s victory isn’t just about politics. A small wave of entrepreneurs has figured out that partisanship sells in areas far beyond media,” says Forbes staff writer Will Yakowicz. “Tucker Carlson’s new nicotine venture offers the perfect prism.”

MORE How Zyn Conquered America

FACTS + COMMENTS

Amazon launched its new, low-priced “Amazon Haul” digital storefront Wednesday in an effort to compete with retailers like Shein, Temu and the TikTok Shop. The items will take longer to arrive, as they ship directly from warehouses in China:

$20 or less: The cost of the home goods, clothing and other products on the storefront, with most under $10

One to two weeks: The typical delivery times for Amazon Haul purchases

51.4 million: Temu’s monthly U.S. user base, compared to Amazon’s 67 million, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year

STRATEGY + SUCCESS

The holiday season presents a significant opportunity for small businesses, but it’s also stressful—especially amid economic uncertainties. To attract and retain customers, communicate your authentic story as a business, and lean into offering locally sourced products. Engage with community events and consider a social media campaign, which can even be targeted to individuals within a certain geographic location.

VIDEO

QUIZ

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul are set to fight in a live boxing match Friday on Netflix. What’s the age gap between the two fighters?

A. 18 years

B. 20 years

C. 29 years

D. 31 years

Check your answer.

Thanks for reading! This edition of Forbes Daily was edited by Sarah Whitmire and Chris Dobstaff.