Wealthy business elites are cooperating with Donald Trump to take over the American state and turn it into an extension of their personal and business interests.

While the USA has long been accused of being an oligarchy, there is now a more concerted move of (mostly) tech bro billionaires like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg or Jeff Bezos to more actively coopt the American government.

While the definition of oligarchy is contested, the Encyclopaedia Britannica defines oligarchy as a: "government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes. Oligarchies in which members of the ruling group are wealthy or exercise their power through their wealth are known as plutocracies".

Generally, for the context of this market, I understand oligarchy as a logic of governance in which the interests of a few business executives trump the interests of the general public.

Some potential indicators of such a system being in place:

• Shower business executives with influential positions in the administration or on the periphery of it

• Give billionaires offices in the White House despite them not being part of the administration

• Prioritize business interests over national security

• Start a shitcoin scam from which insiders can profit at the expense of the general public

• Institute widespread tariffs which shield domestic businesses from international competition and effectively shift the tax burden towards consumers

• Employ the power of the American state more generally to press foreign governments into giving concessions to American companies (for example threatening to withdraw or actually withdrawing from NATO over third countries or supranational organisations exerting their sovereign right to regulate American companies within their jurisdictions)

• Allow a very limited number of super rich people to centralize the majority of traditional and social media services among them

• Force profitable foreign companies to sell ownership shares to American companies

• Make transactional concessions to business interests in exchange for personal favours in general

• Exclude the general public from your inauguration in favour of rich and powerful stakeholders

• Ignore or only performatively honour campaign promises that do not directly benefit business interests

• Rug pull his idiotic MAGA base in general

• Oligarchs feeling happy

• Republican voters feeling sad

• Et cetera

This market will be resolved by taking into account market sentiment, expert consensus, and personal impression.

• Update 2025-19-01 (PST): - The oligarchy should be open, meaning it is recognized by even non-Maga and magnate Republicans, as well as internationally. (AI summary of creator comment)