FIRST FAMILY FORTUNES

Donald Trump just had the most lucrative year of his life, but percentage-wise, his immediate family has done even better.

- BY DAN ALEXANDER. ILLUSTRATION BY LOUIS FISHAUF FOR FORBES

Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy, promoted Billy Beer—and took cash from the Libyans. Richard Nixon had his brother Donald's phone tapped amid concerns about business dealings. The United States has a long history of presidential relatives looking to cash in on their connections to the commander in chief. But no president, or extended family, has used the office to profit as successfully as the Trumps. Family members who never had significant fortunes—Eric, Don Jr., Barron and Melania—have accumulated tens, then hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 12 months, boosting the Trump family fortune to nearly $10 billion.

Their primary vehicle for enrichment? Cryptocurrency. Teaming up with his three sons, Donald Trump announced a crypto venture in September 2024 named World Liberty Financial, which initially struggled to gain traction. Then he won the White House.

After the election, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, whom Joe Biden's Securities and Exchange Commission had accused of fraud the previous year, invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, routing an estimated $40 million to the president-elect and $16 million more to his family members, kickstarting a powerful engine. In January, days before reentering the White House, Donald and Melania Trump each launched separate memecoins, $TRUMP and $MELANIA, handing the couple hundreds of millions of dollars.

Once in office, Trump rolled back regulatory enforcement of crypto and signed legislation favorable to the industry, ensuring he and his family would personally benefit. His memecoins, initially tied up for three months, now unlock daily, freeing tens of millions per week. World Liberty Financial, meanwhile, has continued selling tokens, largely to anonymous buyers, generating an estimated $1.4 billion so far. A Trump family entity receives a roughly 75% cut of those sales, amounting to more than $1 billion.