The world's 500 richest people saw their collective wealth drop by $208 billion on Thursday, after sweeping tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump sent global markets into turmoil.
This was the fourth-largest daily drop in the 13-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the largest since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than half of the people tracked by the Bloomberg Wealth Index saw their wealth decline, with an average decline of 3.3%. Billionaires in the United States were among the hardest hit, with Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon's Jeff Bezos topping the list of losers.
Carlos Slim, Mexico's richest man, was among a small group of billionaires outside the United States who escaped the impact of the tariffs. The Mexican stock market index rose 0.5% after the country was excluded from the White House's list of reciprocal tariff targets, boosting Slim's net worth by about 4% to $85.5 billion.
The Middle East was the only region where Bloomberg's wealth index posted net gains on the day.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has lost $110 billion since the beginning of the year, including $11 billion on Thursday, as slowing deliveries and his controversial role at the helm of the Trump administration's government efficiency agency weighed on the company's stock performance.
Earlier this week, the situation began to improve: Because Tesla manufactures a large number of its cars in the United States, it may be less affected by the tariffs than its foreign competitors.
Its stock also rose after reports emerged that Musk may soon step back from his government duties to focus again on Tesla. However, shares fell 5.5% on Thursday after the tariffs were announced.
Mark Zuckerberg
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg was the biggest loser in dollar terms, with the social media company's 9% drop costing him about $17.9 billion, or about 9% of his wealth.
Meta was the biggest gainer among the "Big Seven" index (Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla) from the beginning of the year until mid-February, achieving nearly a full month of uninterrupted gains that added more than $350 billion to its market capitalization. However, since mid-February, the stock has fallen by about 28%.
Jeff Bezos
Amazon shares fell 9% on Thursday, their biggest drop since April 2022, costing the tech giant's founder about $15.9 billion of his personal fortune. The company's shares have fallen more than 25% from their February peak.
Ernest Garcia III
The fortune of Carvana CEO Ernest Garcia III fell by $1.4 billion after the used-car retailer's shares fell 20%. The company's shares had risen more than 425% in the 12 months leading up to February 14, but have since fallen by 36%.
Bernard Arnault
The European Union is preparing to impose a 20% tariff on all products destined for the United States, which is expected to hurt exports of alcoholic beverages, luxury goods, and other goods.
Shares of Arnault's LVMH conglomerate, which includes brands such as Christian Dior, Bulgari, and Loro Piana, fell on the Paris Stock Exchange, reducing the net worth of Europe's richest person by $6 billion.
Tobi Luetke
The founder and CEO of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify lost $1.5 billion, or 17% of his fortune.
Shopify shares, which rely heavily on sales of imported goods, fell 20% on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while the S&P/TSX Composite Index had its worst day since March 2020.
Chang Kongyuan
The founder of Chinese shoemaker Huali Industrial Group Co. lost about $1.2 billion, or 13% of his fortune, after Trump's 34% additional tariff on China led to a collapse in the company's shares.
Other shoe manufacturers in the United States and Europe were also affected: Nike, Lululemon, and Adidas, all of which have major factories in Southeast Asia, recorded double-digit declines.
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