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President Donald Trump is offering a $5 million path to citizenship for the wealthy with his Trump Card.
The idea has energized the burgeoning market for investment or “golden” visas, which allow the wealthy to buy residency or citizenship in another country in exchange for a six-figure or seven-figure investment.
Immigration attorneys said the largest demand is likely to come from China and the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump holds “The Trump Card” as he speaks with journalists onboard Air Force One en route to Miami, Florida, U.S., April 3, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
President Donald Trump’s $5 million Trump Card has attracted strong interest from the overseas wealthy, but it faces legal challenges and questions about the potential market size, according to immigration attorneys.

Trump launched the website in June for his new immigration plan, first called “the Gold Card” and then renamed “the Trump Card.” A brief questionnaire asked interested parties for their name, email, region and whether the Trump Card would be for “self,” “family,” “spouse” or “other,” as well as whether the application came from a business or individual.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Financial Times that 70,000 people had already signed up and that the card would be made from real gold. In March he said the potential market for the cards was 37 million. He said selling 200,000 cards would net $1 trillion for the Treasury and help pay down the federal debt.
The Trump Card has energized the burgeoning market for investment or “golden” visas, which allow the wealthy to buy residency or citizenship in another country in exchange for a six-figure or seven-figure investment. A record 142,000 millionaires will move to another country this year, according to Henley & Partners, driven by rising political turmoil and unrest. The U.K. is expected to lose a net 16,500 millionaires due to a change in its tax program, according to Henley. The UAE, the biggest gainer, is set to add a net 9,800 millionaires while the U.S. is expected to gain a net 7,500. 
The Trump Card would also arrive as many countries once favored by the wealthy — including Spain, Portugal and Italy — are tightening their investment-visa programs amid populist opposition and political backlash.  
Yet in interviews with immigration attorneys, advisors to the wealthy and political staffers involved in the program, they said the Trump Card faces fundamental legal and tax obstacles. What’s more, even if it’s approved and eventually offered, the number of buyers is likely to be a fraction of what the White House has suggested and could taper off after an initial burst of buyers.

“Each week there is something else announced that’s putting the steps in place to eventually get there,” said Dominic Volek, group head of private clients at Henley & Partners, which advises the wealthy on visas and passports. “But there are still a lot of question marks in terms of how successful it will be at the end of the day.”
The latest question centers on demand. While Lutnick touted the 70,000 sign-ups as proof of potential sales, anyone can sign up on the website requesting more information, regardless of their net worth. Immigration attorneys, family offices, bankers, wealth managers and all manner of advisors to the global wealthy said they signed up to stay informed on the Trump Card for their potential clients.
“I submitted two registrations so I can have access to more details when it becomes available,” said Theda Fisher, partner at Withers Bergman LLP, who advises wealthy clients.
The population of people outside the U.S. worth $30 million or more – a reasonable cut-off for those willing to spend $5 million on a visa — is around 276,000, according to the latest numbers from data firm Altrata.
Immigration attorneys said the largest demand is likely to come from China and the Middle East. China has around 46,000 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (those worth $30 million or more), Altrata said, while the Middle East has around 19,000. U.S. trade tensions with China and restrictions by the Chinese government on capital flight could limit the number of wealthy Chinese who buy a Trump Card, attorneys said.

Volek, who applauded the program in concept, estimated that demand for the Trump Card will be around 2,000 a year.
“I think a couple thousand a year is achievable,” he said.
By country, he said demand will likely mirror that of the current EB-5 program, the longtime U.S. visa regime that gives applicants residency and a pathway to citizenship for about $1 million. China dominates the EB-5 program, with mainland Chinese investors accounting for up to two-thirds of the 8,354 EB-5 visas issued in 2023, according to State Department data. Other countries in the common EB-5 applicant pool include Vietnam, India, Taiwan and South Africa.
Other golden-visa advisors said they’re seeing interest mainly from Mexico, the U.K., Russia and Brazil. The White House hasn’t said whether the $5 million card covers a family or just an individual, which could also impact demand.
Companies could emerge as major buyers of the Trump Card as they seek tech talent from around the world. Trump said that Apple, for instance, would buy “a lot” of Trump Cards, according to reports. (Apple declined comment).
Ultimately, demand will all depend on the specific terms of the Trump Card, which are already causing controversy. Trump and Lutnick have said the Trump Card would replace the EB-5, which is supported with heavy lobbying and bipartisan backers in Congress. The EB-5 program, which ties investments to job creation in under-employment areas, was reauthorized until 2027, so any changes or termination would need congressional approval.
“The EB-5 program was created by Congress, and only Congress may abolish it,” said the American Immigrant Investor Alliance, which seeks to increase the number of available EB-5 visas.

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Screening and vetting remain another open question. After the U.S. discovered that Russians sanctioned after the Ukraine invasion had used its popular non-domicile program (similar to the Trump Card), it dramatically scaled back the program. It’s unclear whether the Trump administration, which has been battling China over trade, would allow unfettered access to Chinese nationals who apply. The administration also hasn’t commented on how it plans to screen for ties to terrorism, organized crime, money-laundering or foreign intelligence agencies.
The biggest hurdle for the Trump Card, however, involves taxes. The U.S. is one of the few countries in the world that taxes worldwide income, meaning American citizens and permanent residents have to pay federal income taxes on income earned outside the U.S. The only way wealthy foreigners would buy a Trump Card is if they’re exempted from worldwide income taxes – giving Trump Card holders a massive tax benefit not available to U.S. citizens.

While Trump confirmed that Trump Card holders would be exempt from overseas income, he said in a Truth Social post that “wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card” and be “paying a lot of taxes,” since they would still pay state and federal taxes on U.S.-sourced income.
Changing the tax code for Trump Card holders will require congressional approval as well as approval from the IRS, according to tax experts. So far, there is no legislation in the Big Beautiful Bill or other bills addressing the change.
The unprecedented tax exemption could also lead to loopholes. Wealthy Americans, for instance, who have dual-citizenship in another country could renounce their U.S. citizenship, buy a Trump Card and regain access to the U.S. free of global-income taxes.
The administration has also yet to provide information about whether Trump Card holders would be exempt from estate and gift taxes — which are typically more important and more costly than income taxes for the ultra-wealthy.
“There are many questions we have, including how various tax positions will be treated, the duration of the ability to exempt taxation of global income, estate tax implications, and who will be included in a one donation,” Fisher said. “For this reason, we have asked most of our clients not to register and take a wait and see approach. Unless this program really makes sense from a long-term tax and estate perspective, many high-net-worth individuals will not apply.” More

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped government panel of vaccine advisors recommended the use of Merck’s shot designed to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus during their first season of the virus. 
The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, also voted unanimously to include Merck’s shot in a government program that provides free vaccines to eligible children. 
The votes in favor of Merck’s shot are a sigh of relief for drugmakers and the medical community after Kennedy earlier this month gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics. 

The exterior view of the entrance to Merck headquarters in Rahway, New Jersey, on Feb. 5, 2024.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped government panel of outside vaccine advisors on Thursday recommended the use of Merck’s shot to protect infants from respiratory syncytial virus, a temporary reprieve for public health officials and companies concerned about the Health and Human Services secretary’s immunization policy.
The group, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, also voted unanimously to include Merck’s shot in the government’s list of recommended childhood immunizations that receive wide insurance coverage.

The votes in favor of the injectable antibody, Enflonsia, are a sigh of relief for drugmakers and the medical community after Kennedy earlier this month gutted the panel and tapped replacements, some of whom are well-known vaccine critics. 
The signoff will allow the company to launch the shot ahead of the RSV season that typically kicks off around fall and winter and lasts through the spring. Enflonsia, recommended for infants during their first RSV season, will compete head-to-head with a rival shot from Sanofi and AstraZeneca called Beyfortus.
Both are preventative monoclonal antibodies, which deliver antibodies directly into the bloodstream to provide immediate protection. But each targets a different part of the virus, making it difficult to compare them directly.
ACIP’s “recommendations are an important step forward in efforts to help reduce the significant burden RSV continues to place on infants, families, and health care systems,” said Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck’s head of global medical & scientific affairs, vaccines and infectious diseases, in a statement.
 RSV causes thousands of deaths among older Americans and hundreds of deaths among infants each year, and complications from the virus are the leading cause of hospitalization among newborns. In a mid- to late-stage trial on Enflonsia, the shot reduced RSV-related hospitalizations by more than 84% and decreased hospitalizations due to lower respiratory infections by 90% compared with a placebo among infants through five months.

Two of the vaccine critics on the panel, Retsef Levi and Vicky Pebsworth, voted against recommending Merck’s shot and questioned its safety throughout the meeting. 
But some other members underscored the safety of Merck’s shot, which won approval from the Food and Drug Administration earlier this month. 
“These are truly remarkable products. They are safe and they’re effective, and I don’t think there’s any further data that needs to be presented,” said member Dr. Cody Meissner, a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. 
The ACIP “work group has spent an enormous amount of time, the FDA has spent an enormous amount of effort looking at safety and efficacy, and it is simply not an issue here,” said Meissner, who has also held advisory roles at the CDC and FDA.
Other experts at the meeting, who aren’t members of the committee, agreed. 
“This is a tremendous advance for medical science, and I urge the committee to approve and pass this resolution so that we can continue to protect our children and keep them healthy,” said Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians. 
Levi said he voted against the shot because he believes it is not “ready to be administered to all healthy babies. He added, “I think we should take a more precautionary approach to this.”
The vote specifically recommends one dose of Merck’s shot for infants ages 8 months or younger born during or entering their first RSV season.  More

Private investment firms of wealthy families are investing more in alternatives, according to a new BlackRock survey.
As investor frustrations with private equity mount, private credit and infrastructure are gaining market share with family offices.
BlackRock’s Armando Senra told CNBC which niches these elite investors are flocking to and why.

Vithun Khamsong | Moment | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Investment firms of the ultra-rich are increasingly investing in alternative assets like real estate and venture capital, according to a new survey by BlackRock. Family offices averaged a 42% portfolio allocation to alternatives in recent months, up 3 percentage points from last year, and are making substantial changes to how they invest that capital.

Nearly one-third (32%) of single-family offices planned to increase their allocations to private credit this year, according to the survey. The second most-popular asset class was infrastructure, with 30% of respondents reporting they intend to invest more in the sector through either debt or equity. The survey polled 175 family offices overseeing more than $320 billion combined between March 17 and May 19.
Private equity still has positive momentum, though 12% of respondents said they plan to decrease their allocations to funds or direct investments. When asked about the asset class’ prospects this year, 30% reported feeling optimistic while 22% said their attitude was pessimistic.

BlackRock’s Armando Senra told CNBC that family offices overall are still investing more capital in private equity. They are, however, spreading their bets when it comes to private markets, hence the growing market share of private credit and infrastructure.
“Private equity continues to be a centerpiece of the portfolio,” said Senra, who leads the asset manager’s institutional business in the Americas. “I think that what you see is more of a desire to diversify for a number of reasons.”
Liquidity is a key factor, he said, as the slowdown in exits means private equity investors have to wait longer for returns.

Senra also cited the low-risk appeal of infrastructure investing, which he said can provide a “private-equity-type return with significantly lower risk.” Three-quarters of respondents to the BlackRock survey reported feeling bullish or optimistic about infrastructure, with only 5% expressing pessimism.
The sector is also a way for family offices to invest in the artificial intelligence boom.
“AI has big infrastructure needs,” Senra said, noting increased demand for data centers and improved energy grids.
In May, Jeff Bezos’ family office backed a $155 million seed round for Atlas Data Storage, a firm that uses a DNA-style system to store data more efficiently and at a lower cost.

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As for private credit, some family offices are wary of the hype. While 51% of respondents said they were optimistic or bullish on private credit, 21% reported pessimistic or bearish attitudes. The rush of capital into private credit has raised concerns about the quality of the borrowing companies and how many would default on loans in the event of a recession.
Senra said caution is natural when an asset class surges in popularity.
“I think that whenever you have enough class that captures a lot of attention, you really need to separate those managers that have experience across different market environments,” he said.
That said, 62% of respondents favored special situation debt, which is typically extended to companies that are restructuring or are facing stress. The second most-preferred private debt category was direct lending. Done right, according to the report, private credit can offer more investor protection than private equity. More

PayPal has signed a multiyear agreement with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences.
The deal will allows schools to pay student-athletes through PayPal.
The partnership follows the recent court decision in House v. NCAA, which allows schools to directly compensate student-athletes.

Global payment company PayPal announced on Thursday that it has inked a deal with the Big Ten and Big 12 conferences to allow student-athletes to receive compensation through the fintech company’s platform.
The announcement comes just weeks after a court settlement in the House v. NCAA case, which dramatically shifts the college sports landscape by allowing schools to compensate student-athletes for the first time. The settlement allows individual schools to distribute up to $20.5 million to current athletes over the next year, and provides up to $2.8 billion in compensation to former players across the NCAA.

The new agreement will allow Big Ten and Big 12 athletic departments to dispense these payments using PayPal exclusively.
PayPal said the initial rollout is expected to begin this summer. The House settlement takes effect on July 1.
The deal will allow students at Big Ten and Big 12 universities to receive their compensation quickly and securely, PayPal said. The company added students will also have the option to pay their college tuition via PayPal, which will become a preferred payment partner at select schools.
“We’re proud to help lead this transformation in college athletics by making it easier and fasterfor student-athletes to get paid and continue to bring trusted and innovative commerce solutions to the heart of campus life,” PayPal President and CEO Alex Chriss said in a statement.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” he expects other conferences will soon partner with PayPal, as well.

“It is a great day for student-athletes, and I’m sure other conferences are going to embrace this opportunity,” Yormark said. “I was told last night, the ACC is up next, so you’re going to see this program roll out across campuses throughout the country.”
As part of the deal, PayPal is also introducing conference-branded debit cards available with each school’s logo.
Chriss said the company’s research shows that more and more college students are wanting to pay with debit and “buy now, pay later” as their credit option.
“It’s becoming the way that people want to spend…they don’t want credit cards as often,” Chriss told Squawk Box, noting that “buy now, pay later” grew 20% for the company last quarter.
PayPal’s mobile payment service Venmo is also expanding its position in college sports.
Venmo will be the presenting partner for the first-ever Big Ten Rivalry Series and will serve as the official partner of the Big 12 Conference. The company is also working with Big Ten and Big 12 schools to allow students to use Venmo at college bookstores and for campus athletics for items such as tickets, concessions and merchandise.
The Big Ten Conference expanded to 18 schools last August includes the University of Maryland, Penn State University, University of Michigan and the Ohio State University. The Big 12 Conference includes 16 schools such as Arizona State University, the University of Central Florida and the University of Houston. More

Disney’s original animated film “Elio” tallied just $21 million in ticket sales during its first three days in theaters, a record low for the Pixar animation studio.
“Elio” isn’t an outlier. Animation as a whole has seen sequels outperform new stories in recent years.
The movie industry has long relied on franchise films to drive revenue at the box office, but that trend has expanded exponentially in recent years as competition in the space has grown and audience habits have shifted.

A still from Disney and Pixar’s animated film “Elio.”

Disney’s Pixar animation studio had its worst opening ever over the weekend — and its problems aren’t unique.
“Elio,” the story of a young boy who is mistakenly identified as Earth’s ambassador to the universe, tallied just $21 million in ticket sales during its first three days in theaters, a record low for the studio.

The underwhelming performance fits a recent pattern among Pixar’s releases. While franchise films have lured in moviegoers, the studio’s original fare has had far less success in recent years.
Just look at 2023’s “Elemental,” which brought in the previous lowest-opening haul of $29.6 million, compared to 2024’s “Inside Out 2,” the studio’s second-highest opener at $154.2 million in domestic ticket sales, according to data from Comscore.

But, it’s not just Pixar that has seen its original storylines fall flat. Disney’s other animation arm, Walt Disney Animation, and even rival animation studios within Universal and Paramount, have seen sequels outperform new stories like “Elio” that aren’t tied to previous works. This phenomenon has also held across the board with live-action films, as well.
“A survey of animated film performance post-pandemic shows that the gap between original [intellectual property] and sequel film performances has grown enormously wide, which is a potential problem for studios looking to grow their IP portfolio,” Doug Creutz, analyst at TD Cowen, wrote in a note to investors published Monday.
In the wake of the pandemic, studios have sought to deliver films that audiences are already familiar with, including sequels and stories based on books or comics. That’s contributed to a flood of franchise content from studios with massive media libraries.

Of nearly 30 animated wide releases since 2022, less than a third can be categorized as original, Comscore data shows.

A storied history

Disney has long been an animated feature empire, since its very first title “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1937. It’s been a dominating force in the industry for decades, with only a few hiccups along the way.
Part of that strength came from the acquisition of Pixar in 2006.
At the time, Walt Disney Animation was coming off several years of misses — “Treasure Planet,” “Brother Bear,” “Home on the Range” and “Chicken Little” among them — while Pixar had delivered hit after hit with titles like “Monsters Inc.,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.”
Over the next decade, the two animation engines churned out popular original films like “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Zootopia,” “Inside Out” and “Coco.” At the same time, Disney began to tap back into successful, well-known stories.

Still from Pixar’s “Turning Red.”

However, in the wake of the pandemic, its animation arm, especially Pixar, struggled. With ongoing restrictions and worries about emerging Covid variants, parents kept their kids at home, and Disney sent “Soul,” “Luca” and “Turning Red” directly to its newly minted streaming service Disney+.
For a while, industry experts blamed this strategy for Disney’s inability to lure in audiences to see non-franchise movies in theaters. There were also some who felt the company had become too socially conscious with its storytelling and alienated a segment of potential moviegoers.
However, at the same time, competition in the animation industry was on the rise from Universal, Sony, Warner Bros. and Paramount. Families had more content to choose from, not just on the big screen, but at home from streaming services. So, parents became pickier about what titles they’d take their kids to and which ones they’d wait to enter the home market.
“Elio” opened on June 20, just weeks after the live-action remakes of Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon.” Those films were still drawing audiences by the time the new Pixar film entered the fray.

A wider trend

This heightened competition and the shift in consumer habits has led Hollywood as a whole to rely even more heavily on existing stories with built-in fan bases.
“For audiences, sequels are comfort food,” said Peter Csathy, chairman of Creative Media. “It’s the anti-‘Forrest Gump’ effect, you always know what you’re going to get.”
The movie industry has long relied on franchise films to drive revenue at the box office, but that trend has expanded exponentially in recent years. Since 2016, no more than five films in the top 20 highest-grossing domestic releases each year have been original titles.
In fact, in 2024, none of the top 20 films were original storylines.

“For Disney and the other major traditional studios, animation sequels are the one safe bet in a world filled with growing existential threats, as they face forever-altered streaming economics, new big tech Hollywood moguls, and now the great unknown of generative AI,” Csathy said. “The media landscape has never been murkier. Wall Street has never been more demanding. So sequels to animation success stories are the one remaining safe haven. Sure bets for a highly unsure time.”
The saving grace for original fare like “Elio” is the potential for a second wind.
The films could still have long runs in theaters, collecting ticket sales in the weeks and months after opening weekend, and thrive on streaming platforms down the line. Belated fandom then opens up further opportunities for future installments, tie-ins or merchandising.
Look at “Encanto,” which hit theaters during the pandemic. The film had limited theatrical success because it arrived in theaters at a time of great uncertainty around public health safety, but became popular in the home market. So much so, that Disney is incorporating the film in updates its making to its Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of CNBC and NBCUniversal. More

AUTO Suppliers have never been as flashy as carmakers. The dashboards, suspension assemblies and other components they sell are hidden beneath shiny bodywork. Even so, the likes of Bosch, Continental and Denso regularly outshone their carmaking customers financially. Now, however, the steady rise of electric vehicles (EVs), the growing importance of software and the emergence of new rivals are upending their businesses. More

WHO IS consulting good for? Consultants, obviously. Chief executives, who can blame failure on bad outside advice and take credit for successful counsel. Also, for the industry’s one listed behemoth, its shareholders. Between the start of 2015 and the end of 2024 Accenture, which split off from its accounting sibling in 2000 and went public a year later, generated a total return (including dividends) of around 370%, handily outdoing not just the S&P 500 index but also Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, rival redoubts of advisory smugness. As America’s stockmarket climbed to an all-time high in February, the firm was worth $250bn, more than either investment bank. More

Damp carpet and old coffee. That is how a perfumier might have described the “top notes”—industry speak for the initial olfactory experience—at SIMPPAR, the annual fragrance-ingredient expo held this month in Paris. It is where vendors from Sicilian dynasties to Japanese chemical firms gather to showcase their ingredients. Some are natural. The centifolia rose, a beautifully pungent pink flower harvested at dawn, at its peak potency, makes for excellent marketing material. Less romantic but highly lucrative are the synthetic ingredients. These molecules allow their makers to isolate specific smells, spare the animals once killed for their secretions and give fragrances staying power. More