US Dollar Down 10% Since Trump Took Office — Paul Graham Warns 'You've Become Poorer' Without 11% Net Worth Gain

Kaustubh Bagalkote

August 07, 2025

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham warned on Thursday that Americans need an 11% increase in net worth just to maintain purchasing power following the dollar’s significant decline since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration.

Dollar Index Shows Sharp Decline From Inauguration

The U.S. Dollar Index has fallen from 109.29 on Trump’s January 20 inauguration to 98.07 as of Thursday--a 10.26% decrease.

Graham wrote on X: “Unless your dollar-denominated net worth has increased by at least 11% this year, you’ve become poorer. The dollar has decreased about 10% in value since Trump took office.”

Dollar-focused ETFs reflect this decline. Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSE:UUP) dropped 6.61% from $29.34 to $27.40, while WisdomTree Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund (NYSE:USDU) fell 4.86% from $27.57 to $26.23 since the inauguration.

Billionaire Wealth Gains Offset Currency Devaluation

Despite dollar weakness, tech billionaires have posted substantial gains. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Larry Ellison leads with over $115 billion year-to-date, while Mark Zuckerberg gained $63.5 billion. Elon Musk, despite losing $68.1 billion, maintains the top position at $364 billion in net worth.

Graham noted sarcastically that Trump could claim creating “unprecedented billionaires” when measuring in “Trump dollars, which are only worth .9 [Former President Joe] Biden dollars.”

Unless your dollar-denominated net worth has increased by at least 11% this year, you've become poorer. The dollar has decreased about 10% in value since Trump took office, so your net worth would have to increase by 11% for you to break even.
— Paul Graham (@paulg) August 7, 2025

See Also: ‘India Is Ready For It,’ Says PM Narendra Modi On Trump’s Tariff Threats--Will ‘Never Compromise’ On Farmer Interests

Experts Warn of Structural Dollar Pressures

Ray Dalio previously warned that currency devaluation cycles historically lead to gold-backed systems when trust in fiat currencies erodes. The billionaire investor cited patterns where governments print money to service debt, eventually triggering confidence crises.

Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer warned the dollar could lose its “supremacy premium” if the Federal Reserve intervenes in bond markets to suppress rates amid rising debt burdens.

Corporate Impact and Forward Outlook

McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) CEO Chris Kemczynski attributed consumer anxiety partly to tariff impacts, noting “real incomes are down with the low-income consumer” and visits declining “double digits versus the prior year.”

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Stock Market Today: US Futures Rise Amid Russia Peace Talk Update--Investors Await Eli Lilly, Block Earnings

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

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