10 Individuals Who Could Influence Markets in 2023
The financial markets are impacted by economic events, breaking news, and earnings seasons. But what about people? Here are our predictions for the top 10 market influencers in 2023.
10. Zuckerberg
The name of Meta Platforms’ CEO is now well-known. Facebook’s rebranding as Meta Platforms and its significant investment in VR gear were major strides toward the immersive virtual. However, investors were not overly pleased with the company’s reforms, and the stock fell by over 70% in 2022.
After losing $100 billion hours after the news, this reduced his net worth to $140 billion. Zuck’s enthusiasm for the Metaverse’s potential may continue to influence sentiment toward NFTs and cryptocurrencies. Markets may be affected in 2023 by economic commentary and the 13% employee reduction at Meta Platforms.
9. Yellen, Janet
In 2021, Yellen made history by being the first person to serve as the head of the US Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, and White House Council of Economic Advisors at the same time. Yellen is the Treasury Department’s current secretary. The fan of “cool rocks” has a $20 million fortune.
Yellen has always been a hawk on the economy. She disputed the idea that rising inflation was a result of the pandemic-related incentives in 2022 and predicted that it would pass quickly.
She has also spoken out against the possibility of a US recession. Yellen’s efforts to settle the situation between Russia and Ukraine may continue to boost market mood.
8. Changpeng Zhao
The goal of Binance’s creator and CEO is to turn the exchange into a link between cryptocurrencies and fiat money. With a daily trade volume of around $9.5 trillion, or close to 67% of the digital currency market, Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Since the FTX fiasco, there is no longer any competition.
The math prodigy, who was born in China, had initially offered to purchase FTX, the second-most well-liked crypto-exchange. He did, however, just barely avoid the turbulence as FTX crashed to the ground. Zhao has a net worth of $13 billion and is one of the top 150 richest persons in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
7. Wed Barra
Marry Barra, the first woman to lead one of the top three automakers in the US, wants General Motors to sell solely zero-emission cars by 2035. Under Barra’s leadership, GM eliminated the gender pay gap and has invested billions on electrified vehicles, self-driving cars, and the ride-sharing business Maven.
Barra is thought to be worth $94 million. By selling one million electric cars by 2025, she hopes to surpass Tesla and raise General Motor’s yearly earnings to $280 billion by the end of the decade.
6. Christine Lagarde
Lagarde is the first woman to hold the positions of President of the ECB, IMF Director, and Finance and Economy Minister of France. After taking office in November 2019, she has had a challenging reign during which several European countries have suffered economically and due to covid lockdowns.
The oil crisis brought on by the Russia-Ukraine war aggravated the record-breaking double-digit inflation that the Eurozone saw. The euro crashed by 20% and depreciated below the US dollar for the first time in 20 years as soon as Lagarde opted to fight inflation with interest rate increases.
Despite hiking interest rates and slowing down asset purchases, she has been unable to prevent a crisis in the bond market and defaults on government debt. Lagarde has hinted at additional monetary tightening by saying that inflation in the Eurozone “has not maxed out” yet.
5. Jerome Powell
Every time the Fed chairman announces the nation’s monetary policy and makes statements about inflation, the markets are likely to react. His projected $50 million net worth. Powell’s aggressive stance on inflation, demonstrated with frequent, significant interest rate increases during 2022, stoked recessionary anxiety.
Although it is anticipated that his monetary tightening would continue in 2023, the rate of increases may be less brisk. In his final press conference in 2022, Powell stated that in order to assess inflation, he was examining a price gauge across all service industries.
4. Joe Biden
In the US Democratic presidential elections in late 2020, Biden, who had previously served as Barak Obama’s vice president, defeated Donald Trump. The markets had a difficult year in 2018, with the S&P 500 falling 20%.
Only Herbert Hoover, whose presidency coincided with the worst year for the financial markets, is ahead of Biden in terms of popularity. To combat the rise in oil and gas costs, Biden announced the largest-ever release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As a result, oil prices experienced a significant drop in 2022. In order to lead the world in oil supplies, Biden also approved increasing domestic oil production.
The historically high inflation that the Democratic Party is currently dealing with could continue to have an effect on the US dollar and equities markets.
3. Xi Jinping
The Chinese Communist Party leader and current president of the People’s Republic of China, known as the “Emperor of Everything,” was initially referred to as “princeling” when he was elected.
By changing the Chinese constitution to give him lifetime tenure, the head of the most populous nation in the world abolished term limits. His catchphrase, “Chinese Dream,” which he defines as the “Road to Rejuvenation” of the nation, has become well-known.
With a net worth of $1.2 billion, Xi Jinping’s dream—while perhaps not the Chinese Dream—appears to have come true. The Chinese market has lost billions of dollars as a result of the US-China trade conflict, China’s contentious zero-covid policy, and government crackdowns on the private sector. Despite having backed Russia in the Ukraine war, Jinping has adhered to Western sanctions.
2. Putin
Putin, the president of the 11th-largest economy in the world, has been Russia’s prime since 1999 and has nearly always been chosen by a sizable majority (76% in 2018). Putin amended the Russian Constitution via executive decree in 2020, making it possible for him to serve two additional six-year terms.
Putin declared a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The battle stoked the worst recessionary fears by leading to sanctions against Russia and a lack of oil. Russian stock prices fell as a result of the sanctions, causing 2022 to be the worst year since 2008 and a 44% decline in the MOEX index.
This caused a significant energy crisis in Europe and rattled the world markets, fueling inflation. The invasion of Ukraine by Putin and a reduction in energy supplies led to parity between the euro and the US currency. Additionally, it has resulted in a shortage of food in the area.
If labour shortages and import restrictions persist, the Bank of Russia may decide to raise interest rates in 2023 along with other central banks. The main interest rate set by Russia’s central bank has remained at 7.5% thus far. In 2023, a resolution to the conflict with Ukraine might boost all financial markets globally.
1. Elon Musk
The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter consistently makes headlines! Tesla’s EVs and solar energy products are designed, engineered, and manufactured globally under Musk’s direction.
When Musk altered the hashtag #bitcoin in his Twitter bio in January 2021, the cryptocurrency rose 20% in just a few hours. He tweeted about Tesla’s decision to stop accepting Bitcoin payments in the middle of the year, implying he had lost interest in it. The price of the cryptocurrency instantly dropped from around $54,800 to almost $45,700, reaching its lowest level since March 1, 2021. On Dogecoin, Musk had a similar impact.
In 2021, when he tweeted about this cryptocurrency, Dogecoin’s price soared by more than 300% in just four hours. Tesla’s CEO made news when he paid $44 billion to acquire Twitter. Tesla shareholders are concerned that the CEO may be preoccupied with Twitter.
Over the previous six months, this attitude caused shares of Tesla to decline by more than 50%. Opportunities for other EV markets in the US and China may arise as a result of Tesla’s demise. Cryptocurrency markets may continue to be affected by Musk’s statements.
2023 has gotten off to a stormy start, and the financial markets may experience further turbulence this year.
