Tariffs trigger $208bn wealth wipeout for world’s richest

The world’s 500 richest people saw their combined wealth plunge by $208 billion Thursday as broad tariffs announced by President Donald Trump sent global markets into a tailspin, reports Bloomberg.

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.

In its report titled ‘Billionaires Lose Combined $208 Billion in One Day From Trump Tariffs’ published last week, Bloomberg added that more than half of those tracked by Bloomberg’s wealth index saw their fortunes tumble, with an average decline of 3.3 per cent. Billionaires in the US were among the hardest hit, with Meta Platforms Inc’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon.com Inc’s Jeff Bezos leading the way.

Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, was among a small group of billionaires outside the US who escaped the tariffs’ impact. The Mexican Bolsa rose 0.5 per cent after the country was excluded from the White House’s list of reciprocal tariff targets, pushing Slim’s net worth up by about 4 per cent to $85.5 billion. The Middle East was the only region where those on Bloomberg’s wealth index eked out net gains for the day.

According to the report, here are some of the day’s biggest losers:

Mark Zuckerberg

The Meta founder was the biggest loser in dollar terms, with the social media company’s 9 per cent slide costing its chief executive officer $17.9 billion, or around 9 per cent of his wealth. Meta was the standout winner among the Magnificent Seven index of megacap tech stocks from New Year’s Day through mid-February, riding nearly a month of consecutive gains to add more than $350 billion in market value. Since mid-February, though, shares have tumbled about 28 per cent.

Jeff Bezos

Amazon shares plunged 9 per cent Thursday, their biggest drop since April 2022, costing the tech giant’s founder $15.9 billion in personal wealth. The company’s stock is down more than 25 per cent from its February peak.

Elon Musk

The Tesla CEO has lost $110 billion so far this year -- including $11 billion on Thursday -- as lagging deliveries and his controversial role as Trump’s efficiency czar have hammered the electric-vehicle manufacturer’s stock. Earlier this week, things were looking up: Because Tesla manufactures many of its cars in the US, tariffs could have a lesser effect on the company than its foreign peers. Its stock also rallied on reports that Musk would soon be stepping back from his government work to potentially refocus on Tesla. However, shares fell 5.5 per cent Thursday after tariffs were announced.

Ernest Garcia III

The Carvana Co CEO’s wealth tumbled $1.4 billion after the used car seller’s shares lost 20 per cent. The company’s stock had surged more than 425 per cent in the 12 months through Feb. 14, but has since fallen by 36 per cent.

Tobi Lutke

The co-founder and CEO of Canadian e-commerce company Shopify lost $1.5 billion, or 17 per cent of his fortune. Shares of Shopify, which generates much of its revenue from sales of imported goods, fell 20 per cent in Toronto as the S&P/TSX Composite Index suffered its worst day since March 2020.

Bernard Arnault

The European Union is bracing for a new 20 per cent flat tariff on all products bound for the US, which is expected to hurt exports of alcohol and luxury goods, among other things. Arnault’s LVMH, a conglomerate which owns brands including Christian Dior, Bulgari and Loro Piana, saw its shares fall in Paris, wiping $6 billion off the net worth of Europe’s richest person.

Zhang Congyuan

The founder of Chinese shoemaker Huali Industrial Group Co. lost $1.2 billion, or 13 per cent of his fortune, as Trump’s additional 34 per cent tariff on China sent the company’s stock plummeting. Footwear manufacturers based in the US and Europe also felt the pain: Nike Inc., Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Adidas AG, all of which have significant manufacturing facilities in Southeast Asia, each fell by double digits.