10 richest persons lose Rs2,923 bn to coronavirus

NEW YORK: As global markets continued to slide amid coronavirus concerns worldwide, ten of the world’s richest people lost $18.8 billion (Rs2,923 billion) combined in the past week, foreign media reported.

Mark Zuckerberg lost more than anyone, as his net worth dropped by $4.1 billion (Rs637 billion) to $67 billion. Facebook’s advertising revenue has high exposure to sectors that are “at risk” from coronavirus, according to Needham analyst Laura Martin. “Our channel checks indicate lower spending in travel, retail, consumer packaged goods, and entertainment, which together represent 30%-45% of Facebook’s total revenue,” Martin wrote in a research note.

Most of the billionaires whose fortunes took a hit hail from the U.S., but the second-biggest loser by far was Mukesh Ambani, whose net worth dropped $3.2 billion (Rs497 billion) to $47.8 billion. India’s richest person, 62-year-old Ambani leads oil and gas giant Reliance Industries, which was founded by his late father. With an oversupply of oil, a prospective OPEC deal to cut 1.5 million daily barrels, and customers curtailing travel due to contagion fears, oil prices are at multi-year lows. The BSE Oil & Gas index, which tracks India’s largest oil and gas stocks, fell nearly 3% in the week ending Friday, March 6.

Arizona billionaire Ernie Garcia II is $1 billion poorer after Carvana, his used-car seller, projected a 50-60% sales deceleration with its recent fourth-quarter report. Garcia is now worth $4.6 billion and his son, Ernie Garcia III, who lost $500 million, is worth $1.8 billion.

Alphabet cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were other big losers as Google’s ad revenue growth is predicted to decline. Travel ads are the fourth-largest category of Google search adsbut will likely decline due to coronavirus panic, wrote Needham analyst Laura Martin in a research note. Martin cut her full-year 2020 revenue forecast to $188.8 billion from $192.8 billion, and admitted her estimate could be “optimistic” as it did not account for cuts in ad spend for other verticals.

Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson lost $1.5 billion in the past week, bringing down his net worth to $34.2 billion. Las Vegas Sands Corp. generates more than 60% of its revenue from its Macau operations, which were shut down for 15 days in February due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to the Gaming Inspection & Coordination Bureau of Macau, casino revenue dropped an astounding 88% in February.

“This storm will pass,” said Las Vegas Sands COO Robert Goldstein in the fourth-quarter earnings call. “We don’t know when. We do know when it passes, we will be first in line in each of our markets to be the biggest investor, most aggressive in Macau.”

Georg Schaeffler, Schaeffler Group, Germany, lost $1.3 billion, Harold Hamm & family, Continental Resources, US, lost $1.2 billion, and Thomas Peterffy, Interactive Brokers, US, lost $1 billion.