Billionaire fortunes falter as Musk and others lose billions
Hundreds of billionaires have lost part of their fortunes during the first 100 days of Donald Trump's latest presidency. According to "Forbes," there is little optimism in the markets and the business world. Elon Musk has been the biggest loser due to decisions made by the White House.
"No one has been hit harder than Musk, who is $45 (£34) billion poorer than he was on Trump’s second inauguration day" - emphasises "Forbes." The world's richest man has even started criticising Peter Navarro, Trump's chief economic adviser and a staunch advocate of high tariffs. Recently, Musk announced that he would step down from working at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to focus on his business.
- Tesla shares have fallen by over 53% since December 2024, making it the second worst-performing company in the world in terms of percentage drop in value. The market capitalisation of the electric car manufacturer has decreased by $795 (£595) billion.
Warren Buffett up, Jeff Bezos down
Musk isn't the only one who has lost part of his fortune. According to "Forbes," 800 billionaires have lighter wallets, collectively losing $300 (£225) billion since January 20. Among the biggest losers are Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Sergey Brin (Google), and Mark Zuckerberg (Meta). Since the inauguration, they have lost $34.8 (£26) billion, $25.6 (£19) billion, and $21.5 (£16.1) billion, respectively. Meanwhile, Larry Ellison from Oracle lost $28 (£21) billion, and Larry Page (Google) lost $27.4 (£20.5) billion. Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder of Blackstone, had a smaller loss of $11 (£8.2) billion.
However, not everyone lost due to Trump's return to the White House. The biggest winner is Warren Buffett, who gained $19.6 (£14.8) billion. Peter Thiel from Facebook earned nearly $5 (£3.8) billion, and Brad Jacobs from XPO Logistics can boast earnings of about $4 (£3) billion.
"Forbes" calculated the billionaires' fortunes based on changes in net value in the markets from 17 January to 28 April.
