Trump Will Remain Off Facebook, for Now

A body funded by Facebook to arbitrate decisions about content issued its first major ruling early Wednesday, saying the social network’s ban on former President Donald Trump‘s account was fair, but describing his indefinite suspension as inappropriate.

Facebook (ticker: FB) shares were choppy when the market opened, ticking up 0.2% to $318.63 as investors processed the latest batch of quarterly earnings and a private-sector employment report.

The decision about Trump’s account, which punts the matter back to Facebook, is unlikely to have a significant impact on the stock. As Barron’s wrote in our April 2 cover story, the company has faced controversy after controversy, with little impact on its profit and revenue growth over the years. Wednesday’s decision is no different.

Fifty-eight sell-side analysts cover Facebook and none made a change to their target price or recommendation on shares immediately after the decision.

Facebook’s Oversight Board said that the former president’s posts on the platform after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, as Congress was certified the 2020 election, violated the company’s rules

“However, it wasn’t appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension,” the board wrote. “Facebook’s normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account.”

The Oversight Board told Facebook to “determine and justify a proportionate response” that follows the rules the company applies to other users.

Facebook created the oversight board and provided funding for it to handle final decisions about a select batch of content. The company has vowed to abide by the body’s recommendations in specific content cases brought before it. Facebook has 30 days to publish a response to the decision and recommendations.

“We will now consider the board’s decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate. In the meantime, Mr. Trump’s accounts remain suspended,” said a blog post by Nick Clegg, Facebook vice president for global affairs and communications.

Twitter permanently banned Trump from its platform after the incident at the Capitol. At the time, at least one analyst was concerned that kicking the former president off the site could damage the company’s user count and revenue.

But fears of financial problems as a result look to be unfounded. Twitter’s latest quarterly results were better than analysts expected. Twitter hasn’t signalled it plans to re-evaluate the decision.

Facebook stock has advanced 6.8% since Barron’s cover story, as the S&P 500 index rose 3.9%.

The number of U.S. billionaires in the world reached 870 in mid-January, outpacing the number in China for the first time in 10 years, according to a snapshot of the wealthiest in the world by the Hurun Report.

The U.S. gained 70 billionaires since last year, powered by a rising stock market, a strong dollar, and the insatiable appetite for all things AI, according to the 14th annual Hurun Global Rich List . China gained nine billionaires overall for a total of 823. Hurun is a China-based research, media, and investment group.

“It’s been a good year for AI, money managers, entertainment, and crypto,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said in a news release. “It’s been a tough year for luxury, telecommunications, and real estate in China.”

Overall, the Hurun list—which reflects a snapshot of global wealth based on calculations made Jan. 15—counted 3,442 billionaires in the world, up 5%, or 163, from a year ago. Their total wealth rose 13% to just under $17 trillion.

In November, New York research firm Altrata reported that the billionaire population rose 4% in 2023 to 3,323 individuals and their wealth rose 9% to $12.1 trillion.

Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and right-hand advisor to President Donald Trump, topped the list for the fourth time in five years, with recorded wealth of $420 billion as of mid-January as Tesla stock soared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, according to Hurun’s calculations.

The firm noted that Musk’s wealth has since nosedived about $100 billion, falling along with shares of Tesla although the EV car maker is benefiting on Thursday from Trump’s 25% tariff on cars made outside the U.S.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth stood at about $336 billion as of the market’s close on Wednesday, although measuring his exact wealth —including stakes in his privately held companies and the undiscounted value of his Tesla shares—is difficult to precisely determine.

The overall list this year contained 387 new billionaires, while 177 dropped off the list—more than 80 of which were from China, Hurun said. “China’s economy is continuing to restructure, with the drop-offs coming from a weeding out of healthcare and new energy and traditional manufacturing, as well as real estate,” Hoogewerf said in the release.

Among those who wealth sank was Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings —the parent company of e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo—who lost $17 billion.

Also, Zhong Shanshan, the founder and chair of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise , lost $8 billion from “intensifying competition” in the market for bottled water. The loss knocked Zhong from his top rank in China, which is now held by Zhang Yiming founder of Tik-Tok owner Bytedance. Zhang is ranked No. 22 overall.

Hurun’s top 10 billionaires is a familiar group of largely U.S. individuals including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. The list has France’s LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in seventh place, three notches down from his fourth ranked spot on the Bloomberg list, reflecting a slump in luxury products last year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 11 on Hurun’s list as his wealth nearly tripled to $128 billion through Jan. 15. Other AI billionaires found lower down on the list include Liang Wenfeng, 40, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with wealth of $4.5 billion and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with $1.8 billion.

Also making the list were musicians Jay-Z ($2.7 billion), Rihanna ($1.7 billion), Taylor Swift ($1.6 billion), and Paul McCartney ($1 billion). Sports stars included Michael Jordan ($3.3 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1.3 billion), and LeBron James ($1.3 billion).

Wealth continues to surge across the globe, but Hoogewerf noted those amassing it aren’t overly generous.

“We only managed to find three individuals in the past year who donated more than $1 billion,” he said. Warren Buffet gave $5.3 billion, mainly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Michael Bloomberg —ranked No. 19 with wealth of $92 billion—gave $3.7 billion to various causes. Netflix founder Reed Hastings, ranked No. 474 with wealth of $6.2 billion, donated $1.1 billion.

Trump Will Remain Off Facebook, for Now

Here’s what it means for the stock.

The U.S. now has more billionaires than China for the first time in a decade, driven by AI and a booming stock market.