- Stock markets tumbled last week on fears about rising interest rates and inflation.
- The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 8% on-week and is 13% lower year-to-date.
- The world’s top five tech tycoons have lost about $85 billion collectively in net worth so far this year.
The world’s top five tech tycoons have already lost $85.07 billion in net worth in the first few weeks of 2022 as their fortunes took a massive hit from last week’s market selloff.
The brutal stock market losses sent the fortunes of the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, down to $243 billion — that’s some $27 billion lower year-to-date, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and nearly $100 billion less than last November, when Musk’s net worth peaked at $335 billion.
The world’s second-richest man, Amazon co-founder Jeff Bezos, lost about $25 billion since the year started.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates saw a $9.5 billion drop in his net worth since January 1, while Google co-founder Larry Page’s net worth decreased by $12 billion. Rounding out the losses is Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth also dropped by about $12 billion so far this year.
All five saw losses in their tech stock holdings. Last week, the benchmark tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell about 8% on the back of multiple factors including rising interest rates and inflation. The Nasdaq is down about 13% year-to-date.
According to Bloomberg, the only billionaire in the top five who did not lose any money last week was Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of French luxury giant LVMH. Even so, Arnault’s wealth is down $10.5 billion so far this year, with LVMH share prices down 5% year-to-date on the back of a broader market rout.
Here’s how the world’s wealthiest people are faring on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of January 24: