Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, suffered a dramatic financial setback after announcing the formation of what he said would be a new political organization, the “America Party.” The move, which followed a highly publicized feud with President Donald Trump, sent shockwaves through financial markets and triggered a sharp sell-off in Tesla shares.

Key developments

• Net Worth Drop: Musk’s net worth fell by as much as $15 billion in the days following the announcement of his political party.
• Market Reaction: Tesla stock dropped nearly 7% on the first trading day after the announcement, erasing about $68 billion in market value for shareholders.
• Investor Sentiment: Wall Street analysts and investors cited growing fatigue with Musk’s increasingly controversial political activities as a key factor behind the sell-off.

Timeline

July 5, 2025: Musk officially declared the formation of the America Party on his social media platform, X, positioning it as an alternative to the two major U.S. parties.

July 7–8, 2025: The first trading day since Musk’s weekend announcement, Tesla shares tumbled, and Musk’s personal fortune dropped by as much as $15 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As of July 9, it stands at $349 billion with Tesla shares broadly unchanged.

Business vs. politics

The market’s reaction underscores the delicate balance between business leadership and political activism for high-profile CEOs. Following Musk’s public break with President Donald Trump over the passage of a sweeping tax and spending bill—which Musk called “insane” and accused of “bankrupting” the country—he declared the formation of the America Party on his X platform, citing a poll in which two-thirds of his followers supported the idea. The billionaire’s stated goal is to disrupt the entrenched two-party system, focusing the party’s efforts on just a handful of Senate and House seats to serve as a swing bloc in Congress.

The announcement came after months of Musk serving as the unofficial head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, where he championed cost-cutting and deficit reduction. But the relationship soured when Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as Musk warned of its estimated cost to the federal deficit. Their feud escalated further when Trump threatened to revoke billions in federal subsidies that Musk’s companies depend on.

Musk positioned his America Party as a home for the “80% in the middle” frustrated by partisan extremes. Although the party has not yet been formally registered with the Federal Election Commission, Musk’s advisors are reportedly exploring the use of a SuperPAC to build initial momentum and gather support.

Musk’s move has attracted interest from other political outsiders, including Andrew Yang’s Forward Party and the Libertarian Party, who see an opportunity to challenge the “duopoly” of Democrats and Republicans. Yet, the practical challenges are formidable: ballot access laws, signature requirements, and the entrenched power of the two major parties have stymied previous third-party efforts.

Despite these obstacles, Musk’s willingness to spend heavily—having already poured hundreds of millions into past campaigns—could make the America Party a factor in the 2026 midterms, especially if it can tip the balance in closely contested districts.

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Nvidia made history by becoming the world’s first publicly traded company to surpass a $4 trillion market capitalization. The milestone was reached as Nvidia’s stock price surged to $164.42 during intraday trading on July 9. 

The company’s stock has soared by approximately 1,460% over the past five years, with a near 18% gain registered year-to-date. Nvidia’s ascent is driven by its near-monopoly on AI chip manufacturing, with its graphics processing units (GPUs) forming the backbone of machine learning, data centers, and large language models. The Silicon Valley giant’s chips are now essential for tech giants including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet.

Jensen Huang’s net worth

Nvidia’s historic rally has had a dramatic impact on the personal fortune of its co-founder and CEO, Jensen Huang. As of July 2025, Huang’s net worth is estimated by Bloomberg at $140 billion, up $25 billion this year alone.

Huang owns about 3.5% of Nvidia, making him the largest individual shareholder. This surge places Huang among the world’s 10 richest individuals, with his fortune closely tracking Nvidia’s stock performance.

Nvidia now holds the heaviest weighting on the S&P 500 index, surpassing tech giants Apple and Microsoft. The milestone has fueled optimism for further growth, with some analysts projecting Nvidia’s market cap to keep rising. Loop Capital’s Ananda Baruah sees Nvidia at the “front-end” of the next “Golden Wave” for generative AI pushing it past $6 trillion in coming years.

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Linda Yaccarino is stepping down as CEO of X (formerly Twitter) after two years at the helm, marking a significant leadership change at the Elon Musk–owned social platform. Yaccarino announced her resignation on Wednesday in a post on X, expressing pride in the company’s turnaround and gratitude to Musk for entrusting her with the role. She highlighted the platform’s changes, stating that “the historic business turnaround we have accomplished has been nothing short of remarkable.” Musk publicly thanked her for her contributions in a social post.

Yaccarino did not specify a reason for her departure. However, her exit comes just a day after X’s Grok AI chatbot was found posting anti-Semitic material, reigniting scrutiny over the platform’s content moderation policies. While it is unclear if this incident directly prompted her resignation, Yaccarino had faced sustained pressure from the advertising industry amid ongoing controversies involving Musk and the platform’s handling of hate speech and misinformation. Major brands including Disney, Apple, and IBM had pulled advertising from X in November 2023 as a direct result of X’s proximity to anti-Semitic content, just months after Yaccarino was appointed.

History at X

Yaccarino, who joined X in May 2023 after a long tenure running NBCUniversal’s ad business, was Musk’s first permanent CEO hire after his 2022 acquisition of the platform. She was brought in to restore advertiser confidence and stabilize the business following a period of turbulence and advertiser exodus triggered by Musk’s controversial statements and a shift toward less content moderation. Under her leadership, X introduced new features like Community Notes, which allow for users to add more information, supposedly context, to their posts. She also laid the groundwork for the rollout of X Money, part of Musk’s vision to integrate financial services into the platform (Musk was part of what Fortune dubbed the PayPal Mafia, with X.com being Musk’s original name for what became PayPal). Yaccarino also extended partnerships with major sports leagues and creators.

Despite these efforts, the advertiser exodus of 2023 meant that X’s ad revenue was quite depressed. Analysis of third-party data suggested that the private company was generating ad revenue of about half its pre-Musk levels, although 2025 was projected to see growth for the first time in four years.

Industry impact

Yaccarino’s resignation adds uncertainty to X’s future as it continues to grapple with advertiser skepticism. Her efforts to balance Musk’s vision of a free-speech platform with the demands of the advertising community and broader societal concerns over online safety were continual.

This is a developing story; further updates are expected as X announces its next steps.

Here’s her announcement post:

After two incredible years, I’ve decided to step down as CEO of 𝕏.

When @elonmusk and I first spoke of his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to carry out the extraordinary mission of this company. I’m immensely grateful to him for entrusting me…

— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) July 9, 2025

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On July 4, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, once a prominent Democratic donor, declared himself “politically homeless.”

While Altman cited his personal disillusionment with political parties, his comments are emblematic of a broader realignment underway in Silicon Valley—a region once synonymous with progressive politics, now witnessing a high-profile migration of its elite toward the political right.

“I’m not big on identities, but I am extremely proud to be American,” Altman wrote in a post on X. “This is true every day, but especially today—I firmly believe this is the greatest country ever on Earth. The American miracle stands alone in world history.”

It was a pointed critique of the Democratic Party’s perceived drift away from innovation and entrepreneurship, as Altman explicitly called for a renewed focus on what he called “technocapitalism”—a philosophy that champions both wealth creation and broad-based prosperity through innovation.

Silicon Valley’s political shift

Altman’s public break with the Democrats is not an isolated event. It comes at a time when Silicon Valley’s political allegiances are in flux. For decades, the tech industry was seen as a reliable ally of the Democratic Party, especially during the Obama years, when the administration fostered close ties with tech leaders such as Google’s Eric Schmidt. However, as the Biden administration increased regulatory scrutiny—particularly around artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and antitrust—many tech executives began to feel alienated.

Altman’s critique echoes a growing sentiment among tech leaders that the Democratic Party has become hostile to the very forces—innovation, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation—that once defined Silicon Valley’s ethos.

The jury is out on the true nature of this split, as Silicon Valley has long had a libertarian bent while Democrats of left-wing and center-lift varieties have long favored strong regulation, but the Trump years have created new coalitions. Prominent tech and venture capital executives have increasingly aligned with the Republican Party while expressing the sentiment that they don’t feel at home anymore with the Democrats.

The political divide in Silicon Valley is now stark. While many tech workers remain liberal or progressive, the upper echelons—CEOs, venture capitalists, and founders—are increasingly embracing conservative or libertarian ideologies.

Fear of “anti-billionaire” sentiment

The shift is driven by several factors:

• Many leaders believe that Democratic policies stifle innovation through overregulation and punitive taxation.
• Executives cite a growing “anti-billionaire” and anti-tech sentiment within progressive circles, which they see as antithetical to Silicon Valley’s culture of risk-taking and wealth creation.
• The Trump administration’s deregulatory stance, especially on AI and crypto, has proven attractive to tech elites seeking fewer constraints on their businesses.

Perhaps the most striking example of Silicon Valley’s rightward drift is Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz. Formerly a Democrat, Andreessen has become a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, citing the Biden administration’s regulatory approach as a threat to the startup ecosystem. In July 2024, Andreessen and his partners released the “Little Tech Agenda,” a policy document advocating for deregulation, lower taxes, and a hands-off approach to innovation. This effectively provided a “permission structure” for tech leaders to back Trump and the GOP.

Andreessen’s transformation is emblematic of a broader trend: the tech elite’s growing willingness to align with conservative populism if it means protecting their interests and vision for the future. Andreessen’s “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” from 2023 argued that technological innovation is the ultimate solution to social problems and that regulatory constraints are obstacles to be overcome, not safeguards to be respected.

Altman’s declaration of political homelessness and Andreessen’s rightward shift both signal a profound change in the political landscape of Silicon Valley—and then there’s Elon Musk’s deep involvement with Republican politics. A major backer of Donald Trump’s reelection in 2024, then a prominent member of the first few months of Trump’s second term, and finally an exile from the White House, Musk recently launched the “America Party,” a new political party that he said will provide voters with an alternative to the Democratic and Republican parties.

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• The United States is facing its most severe measles outbreak in more than three decades, with confirmed cases surpassing any annual total since 1992.

Public health officials are sounding the alarm as the nation grapples with a resurgence of a disease once declared eliminated, driven largely by falling vaccination rates and growing vaccine hesitancy.

As of early July, at least 1,277 measles cases had been confirmed across 38 states and the District of Columbia, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. This figure marks the highest tally since 1992, when more than 2,100 infections were reported.

The outbreak has resulted in at least 155 hospitalizations and three deaths, including two children in Texas and an adult in New Mexico, all of whom were unvaccinated. The CDC warns that the actual number of cases may be higher, as some infections go unreported.

• Texas has emerged as the epicenter, with over 750 cases since January, particularly in communities with low vaccination coverage.
• New Mexico and Kansas have also reported significant outbreaks.
• In total, 38 jurisdictions had documented cases as of July 1.

The surge in measles cases is closely linked to a decline in vaccination rates, especially among children. A recent analysis by Johns Hopkins found that the average county-level measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination rate dropped from 93.9% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 91.3% in 2024 — well below the 95% threshold needed for herd immunity. In 2023-24, a record number of kindergartners received exemptions from required vaccinations, leaving over 125,000 new schoolchildren without at least one mandated vaccine.

According to the CDC, 92% of this year’s measles cases involved individuals who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. Only about 8% of confirmed cases occurred in people who had received one or two doses of the MMR vaccine.

Measles is among the most contagious diseases known. Health officials are urging Americans to get vaccinated, emphasizing that the MMR vaccine is safe and 97% effective after two doses. In response to the outbreak, Texas alone administered over 173,000 doses of the measles vaccine in the first three months of 2025, a notable increase from the previous year.

Experts warn that if the current rate of transmission continues, the U.S. could lose its measles elimination status — a designation it has held since 2000. The CDC and local health departments are intensifying outreach and vaccination campaigns, particularly in communities with low coverage.

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• Prime Day is Amazon’s most important sales event of the year. It all started when Diego Piacentini, an Amazon executive, noticed the success of Alibaba’s Singles Day in China and pitched Jeff Bezos that his “everything store” do something similar. Today, Prime Day generates billions in revenue for the tech giant.

Amazon Prime Day is one of the most lucrative and influential retail events in the world. Last year, it generated a whopping $14.2 billion in sales, according to Capital One.

But the origins of this sales juggernaut trace back to a single executive’s vision and a pivotal pitch to Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos.

The genesis of Prime Day

In the early 2010s, Amazon’s international business was led by Diego Piacentini, a seasoned executive who had joined the company in 2000 after a successful career at Apple. As Amazon’s global footprint expanded, Piacentini was tasked with finding new ways to energize both customers and the company’s growing base of Prime members outside the U.S.

According to Brad Stone’s book “Amazon Unbound,” Piacentini was inspired by the explosive success of Alibaba’s Singles Day in China, which had quickly become the world’s largest online shopping event. So Piacentini pitched Jeff Bezos on Amazon having its own event, and Bezos was into it, thinking the primary goal would be to drive sales to Prime, the company’s subscription service.

After obtaining Bezos’s blessing, Amazon executives reportedly went back and forth on when to hold their event. But according to Stone’s book, Amazon leadership eventually opted not to go toe-to-toe with Alibaba’s Singles Day, which is held in November, and instead decided on having their own sale during the summer months, a traditionally slower time in retail. The logic there was customers would have enough money during the summer months since they weren’t doing all of their holiday shopping just yet, and that also meant there would be ample warehouse space.

Amazon Prime Day got the green light in January 2015, with the goal of launching on July 15 to coincide with Amazon’s 20th anniversary.

From ‘Project Piñata’ to ‘Christmas in July’

The internal codename for the Amazon Prime Day initiative was “Project Piñata.” Meagan Wulff Reibstein, a young product manager who spent seven years at Amazon before departing for a VP role at Zillow, was assigned to execute the plan. She traveled to Amazon’s international hubs—Tokyo, London, Paris, and Munich—to convince suppliers and partners to participate in the event.

The first Prime Day launched across nine countries, and the response was immediate. In Japan, the massive surge in traffic crashed the local website. Across Europe and the U.S., customers snapped up deals, even as some complained about limited inventory and underwhelming discounts.

Despite technical hiccups and mixed reviews, the numbers told a different story: 34.4 million items sold and 1.2 million new Prime members added in a single day. “It was Christmas in July quite frankly—a bigger day than Black Friday,” Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told investors on an earnings call the following week.

Amazon Prime Day has only grown since then. In its second year, Prime Day sales jumped by 60%. By 2019, Amazon expanded the event to be two days, and in 2025, the event now spans four days. It kicked off on Tuesday, July 8, and runs until Friday, July 11—a full 96 hours to take advantage of deals.

Prime Day has become a crucially important event for Amazon. Last year, consumers in 23 different countries purchased over 300 million items with an average order value approaching $60. Notably, 88% of all Prime Day consumers were Prime members, and 85% of customers had been Prime members for over a year. And people tend to buy lots of Amazon products, specifically: Last year, Prime Day shoppers bought more Amazon Fire Sticks than any other item.

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• Richard “Dick” Eastland, the owner and director of Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, died while helping campers get to safety during the devastating floods that impacted the area last week. Eastland, who was the third generation from his family to manage the camp, was 74.

Richard “Dick” Eastland, the owner and director of Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, died during the flash floods that struck Central Texas on Friday, his nephew confirmed on Facebook. Eastland was 74.

The Eastland family has owned and operated Camp Mystic, the Christian girls’ summer camp, since 1939. The camp was founded back in 1926. Dick was the third generation to manage Mystic after he and his wife, Tweety, purchased the camp in 1974, serving as executive directors for over 50 years. Eastland’s wife Tweety was found safe at home, officials said.

Eastland’s children are also integral to Camp Mystic’s operations: Richard Eastland, their eldest son, serves as head chef and runs the dining hall; Edward Eastland, the youngest son, is the director at Camp Mystic’s original Guadalupe River site, and manages the camp with his wife, Mary Liz; and Britt Eastland, another son, directs Camp Mystic’s Cypress Lake campus, a newer addition established in 2020.

Dick Eastland was known for his involvement in the West Kerr County community, serving on the Hunt Independent School District Board and coaching youth sports, particularly the West Kerr County Little League and the West Kerr County Little Dribblers. Eastland also notably survived brain cancer.

According to statements from camp officials and survivors, Eastland was last seen leading a group of girls from a cabin trying to get them to safety. His body was later found near his vehicle.

On July 4, severe flooding in Texas Hill Country caused the Guadalupe River to rise more than 25 feet in less than an hour, which caught many campers and staff off guard. Officials say 27 campers and counselors died at Camp Mystic, including young girls from various states. As of July 7, at least 10 campers and one counselor remain missing. Statewide, the death toll from the floods has reached at least 95, with 75 people reported dead in Kerr County. The Texas National Guard and local authorities have deployed helicopters, boats, and drones to locate survivors and recover the missing.

Survivors described scenes of confusion as staff worked to move campers to higher ground. “We went to bed thinking it was just a normal thunderstorm,” Callie McAlary, a 16-year-old camper, told Fox News. “One minute you see lightning strike next to your cabin, and next to you, you hear water’s coming up.”

Camp officials and survivors credited Eastland and the staff with helping save lives during the disaster. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has since visited Camp Mystic, declaring a state of emergency and pledging continued support for search and rescue operations. “I urge every Texan to join me in prayer this Sunday—for the lives lost, for those still missing, for the recovery of our communities, and for the safety of those on the front lines,” Abbott said in a statement.

Camp Mystic, on its website, says it is “deeply grateful for the outpouring of support” and asks for “respect and privacy” as it charts a new path forward.

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U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to recover $40,300 in cryptocurrency allegedly stolen during a scheme targeting a donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. According to the complaint, the scam began when the victim received an email on Christmas Eve, 2024, purporting to be from Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. All told, the intended donor sent $250,300 worth of crypto, authorities said.

Believing the request was authentic, the victim transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH, a stablecoin pegged to the dollar on the Ethereum blockchain, to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by the scammer, whose operation was traced to Nigeria. Within two hours, the funds were allegedly laundered through a series of additional wallets, making recovery difficult.

Despite the complexity of the blockchain transactions, the FBI’s Washington Field Office was able to trace and recover $40,300 of the stolen cryptocurrency through advanced blockchain analysis. The recovered funds are now the subject of the civil forfeiture action, with the goal of returning them to the victim.

Subtle email trick

The fraudulent message appeared to come from a legitimate campaign address, but in reality, the sender had swapped the lowercase “i” in the domain “@t47inaugural.com” with a lowercase “l” — a subtle change nearly indistinguishable in many fonts. This classic email spoofing technique is a hallmark of Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, which cost Americans millions per year.

“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient. It can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to recoup lost funds due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain,” U.S. Attorney Pirro warned.

The Department of Justice acknowledged Tether, the issuer of USDT, for its assistance in facilitating the recovery of the stolen assets. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock, Jr., and remains under investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.

This incident underscores the evolving tactics of cybercriminals and the importance of vigilance when handling digital assets. As cryptocurrency becomes increasingly integrated into political fundraising and charitable giving, officials urge all donors to exercise extreme caution and verify recipient details before making any transfers.

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• U.S. stock markets reacted negatively on Monday after President Trump announced via social media that he would unilaterally impose 25% trade tariffs on Japan and South Korea. The tariffs target two of America’s closest allies and key suppliers of autos, electronics, and steel.

President Donald Trump jolted global markets Monday with the announcement that the U.S. will impose a sweeping 25% tariff on all imports from Japan and South Korea beginning August 1. The move, delivered via letters to the leaders of both countries and posted on Truth Social, marks a dramatic escalation in the administration’s campaign to force trading partners into what Trump calls “more equitable and fair TRADE”.

U.S. equities responded with a sharp retreat as the news broke. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged as much as 447 points (down 1%), the S&P 500 shed 0.8%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.9% by midday trading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had posted all-time highs last week, but optimism evaporated as investors digested the prospect of retaliatory measures and supply chain disruptions. Here’s how it stood during the middle of the day’s trading:

• Dow Jones: -447 points (-1%)
• S&P 500: -0.8%
• Nasdaq: -0.9%

The abrupt policy change injected fresh uncertainty into markets. Tesla led the decliners, falling nearly 7% as investors reacted to news that CEO Elon Musk’s attention was focused on building a new political party. The selloff was broad-based, with multinationals and manufacturers particularly hard-hit.

The tariffs target two of America’s closest allies and key suppliers of autos, electronics, and steel. Companies with global supply chains—especially in tech, automotive, and consumer goods—face likely margin pressure and rising input costs. Both Japan and South Korea are expected to respond, potentially targeting U.S. exports in sectors from agriculture to aerospace.

With Q2 earnings season about to kick off, analysts previously warned that tariff-driven cost inflation could show up in profit warnings and revised guidance, especially for S&P 500 companies with significant Asia exposure.

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• Roman Starovoit, a Putin insider, has been found dead in a car in a Moscow suburb. Russian authorities say it is likely a suicide. Since 2022, there have been dozens of “suicides” among the political and business elite who orbit Putin.

Roman Starovoit, Russia’s recently ousted transport minister, was found dead from a gunshot wound in his car in a Moscow suburb on Monday, just hours after President Vladimir Putin abruptly dismissed him. Russian authorities have launched an investigation, with suicide cited as the leading theory.

Starovoit, 53, was removed from his post by Russia’s President Putin after barely a year in office. Before he was appointed transport minister in May 2024, he served as governor of the Kursk region, a border area critical to Russia’s logistics and military operations. His dismissal came amid mounting transportation crises, including widespread flight cancellations linked to Ukrainian drone attacks and a major ammonia leak at a Leningrad port.

The Kremlin did not specify the reason for his removal, but reports indicate Starovoit may have faced a looming criminal investigation related to alleged budget improprieties during his governorship.

‘Sudden Russian death syndrome’

Since 2022, dozens of prominent Russians—many in the energy, finance, and infrastructure sectors, often at the level of director or chairman—have died in ways that have fueled speculation about internal power struggles, corruption probes, and the Kremlin’s shifting loyalties. Starovoit is the fourth of Putin’s ministers to die in that period.

Starovoit’s sudden death is notable not only for its timing—mere hours after his firing—but also for its echoes of a troubling pattern among Russia’s elite. In recent years, a string of high-profile officials, oligarchs, and business leaders with close Kremlin ties have died under mysterious or violent circumstances. These incidents, often labeled as “sudden Russian death syndrome,” include apparent suicides, falls from windows, and unexplained accidents.

The episode underscores the precariousness of elite status in Putin’s Russia—and the unpredictable consequences for those who lose the president’s trust.

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