Global markets tumble as world's richest lose billions in hours
The new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump have led to significant losses in the financial markets, with the world's 500 wealthiest people losing a total of $208 (CAD 294) billion. Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk were among the biggest losers of this decision, Bloomberg reports.
The announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump of broad tariffs on imported goods caused sharp reactions in global financial markets, leading to a $208 (CAD 294) billion loss by the world's 500 richest individuals.
The drop is the fourth-largest one-day decline in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index’s 13-year history, and the largest since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. More than half of those tracked by Bloomberg’s wealth index saw their fortunes tumble, with an average decline of 3.3%, reports Bloomberg.
Only the richest man in Mexico profited
Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta Platforms, was the biggest loser, with a loss of $17.9 (CAD 25.3) billion after his company's stock fell by 9 percent. Although Meta was one of the best-performing tech giants, the decrease is now around 28 percent since the peak in February.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, also lost $15.9 (CAD 22.5) billion when the stock fell by 9 percent, which was the largest drop since April 2022. Amazon's stock has fallen by over 25 percent since the peak in February.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, lost $11 (CAD 15.6) billion on Thursday, and his wealth has already decreased by $110 (CAD 156) billion this year, due to his controversial role in the Trump administration and Tesla's supply issues. Tesla's stock drop of 5.5 percent following the tariff announcement further deepened Musk's losses.
Bernard Arnault, owner of LVMH, incurred a $6 (CAD 8.5) billion loss as the drop in his luxury conglomerate's stock was the result of new tariffs likely to negatively affect alcohol and luxury goods exports to the U.S.
Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico, was one of the few billionaires to avoid losses. Thanks to Mexico being excluded from the list of reciprocal tariff targets, his wealth increased by 4 percent.
