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Tesla founder Elon Musk’s fortune plunged almost $62 billion, while Amazon chief Jeff Bezos saw his wealth tumble by about $63 billion and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth was slashed by more than half in the first half of 2022, shows Bloomberg Billionaires Index published on 1 July.
According to index, world’s 500 richest people lost $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022, considered to be the steepest six-month drop ever for the global billionaire class.
Citing the reasons for this drop in wealth of billionaires, the index says governments and central banks unleashed unprecedented stimulus measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, juicing the value of everything from tech companies to cryptocurrencies that hit their businesses.
As countries and governments are raising interest rates to combat elevated inflation, highest-flying shares and the billionaires who own them are losing altitude fast.
The index further shows Tesla Inc had its worst quarter ever in the three months through June, while Amazon.com Inc plummeted by the most since the dot-com bubble burst.
However, even after losing wealth over $60 billion, Tesla’s co-founder has the biggest fortune on the planet, at $208.5 billion, while Amazon’s Bezos is second with a $129.6 billion net worth.
The index further ranks France’s richest person Bernard Arnault in third position with a $128.7 billion fortune, followed by Bill Gates with $114.8 billion.
Musk, Bezos, Arnault and Gates are the only four that have worth more than $100 billion – at the start of the year. While 10 people worldwide exceeded that amount, including Zuckerberg, who is now 17th on the wealth list with $60 billion.
The crypto pioneer Changpeng Zhao – debuted on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in January with an estimated fortune of $96 billion – saw his wealth tumble by almost $80 billion this year amid the turmoil in digital assets.