The richest billionaires lost $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the world’s 500 richest names, led by people such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, lost $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022. This represents the largest six-month decline ever for the global billionaire class. While Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth fell by more than half; Elon Musk’s fortune fell by almost $62 billion, while Jeff Bezos’ fortune fell by about $63 billion.
The government and central banks had seen unprecedented stimulus following the outbreak of the coronavirus, with the value of everything from tech companies to cryptocurrencies skyrocketing. Now, while central banks are struggling with inflation; global stock markets are falling and the wealth of the richest billionaires has significantly erased their gains over the past two years.
Tesla Inc., co-founder and CEO of Elon Musk, had its worst quarter ever in the quarter ending June, while Amazon Inc. saw its biggest drop since the dot-com bubble burst.
Despite the losses, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk remains the richest person in the world with $ 208.5 billion. It is followed by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, with $129.6 billion. Bernard Arnault, the richest person in France, ranks third with 128.7 billion dollars; Bill Gates follows with $114.8 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg, who attracted attention with his metaverse move last year, is in 17th place with 60 billion dollars. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, one of the leading names in the crypto world, who entered the list with $ 96 billion in January, has dropped almost $ 80 billion this year with the collapse in the crypto market.
