Billionaires See Fortunes Vanish in a Day: List of Those Whose Wealth Turned to Smoke

The total wealth of the world’s 500 richest individuals plummeted by $208 billion on Thursday due to the disruptive effects of the broad customs duties declared by U.S. President Donald Trump.
This decline marked the fourth-largest in the 13-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the most significant drop since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over half of those tracked by Bloomberg’s wealth index witnessed a decrease in their fortunes by an average of 3.3%. Among the hardest hit were U.S. billionaires, prominent figures being Mark Zuckerberg from Meta Platforms and Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com.
Carlos Slim, Mexico’s wealthiest individual, stood among a small group of billionaires who managed to evade the impact of tariffs imposed outside the U.S. Following the removal of Mexico from the bilateral tariff target list by the White House, the Mexico Stock Exchange surged by 0.5%, elevating Slim’s net worth by around 4% to $85.5 billion. The only region where those featured in Bloomberg’s wealth index saw net gains throughout the day was the Middle East.
Here are some of the day’s biggest losers:
MARK ZUCKERBERG
The founder of Meta suffered the most in terms of dollar loss, with a 9% decline in the social media company’s value costing him $17.9 billion, around 9% of his wealth. Meta, which emerged as a leading winner in the Magnificent Seven index of mega tech stocks from the New Year to mid-February, had added over $350 billion in market value in nearly a month of consecutive gains. However, since mid-February, the shares have plummeted by approximately 28%.
JEFF BEZOS
Amazon shares experienced a 9% drop on Thursday, marking the largest decline since April 2022 and amounting to a loss of $15.9 billion from the personal wealth of the tech giant’s founder. The company’s shares decreased by over 25% from their peak in February.
ELON MUSK
The Tesla CEO lost $11 billion on Thursday, including delays in deliveries and a controversial role as Trump’s productivity czar hitting the electric vehicle manufacturer’s shares. However, since Tesla produces most of its cars in the U.S., the impact of customs duties may be relatively lower compared to foreign competitors. Furthermore, reports indicating Musk’s step back from government work to refocus on Tesla led to a rise in the stock. Nevertheless, Thursday saw a 5.5% drop in shares following the tariff announcements.
ERNEST GARCIA
The fortune of Carvana Co.’s CEO shrank by $1.4 billion as the used car dealer’s shares fell by 20%. Although the company’s shares had surged by over 425% in the 12-month period until mid-February, they had declined by 36% since then.
TOBİ LUTKE
The Canadian e-commerce company Shopify’s co-founder and CEO lost $1.5 billion or 17% of his wealth. Shopify, mainly deriving significant revenue from the sale of imported goods, saw its shares plummet by 20% in Toronto amid the worst day for the S&P/TSX Composite Index since March 2020.
BERNARD ARNAULT
The European Union is preparing to impose a new fixed customs duty of 20% on all goods exported to the U.S., expected to affect items like alcohol and luxury goods. Shares of Arnault’s LVMH company in Paris dropped, erasing $6 billion from Europe’s richest individual’s net worth.
ZHANG CONGYUAN
The Chinese shoe manufacturer Huali Industrial Group Co.’s founder lost $1.2 billion or 13% of his wealth as Trump’s additional 34% customs duty on China impacted the company’s shares. U.S. and Europe-based shoe manufacturers also felt the pain: Nike Inc., Lululemon Athletica Inc., and Adidas AG, each with significant production facilities in Southeast Asia, experienced double-digit declines.