Two days after the announcement of new US President Donald Trump new tariffs, the world’s wealthiest paid a crushing financial blow. That downward movement affected global markets, with shockwaves rippling through the fortunes of giants amongst the ultra-rich. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index said that the combined net worth of the 500 richest people collapsed by an eye-watering $536 billion from Thursday, April 3 to Friday, April 4.
It may look simple, but the S&P 500 plunged 10.5% while the Nasdaq was off by 11.4% during the same period. The previous worst day for such calculated movement occurred during the market craziness of the COVID-19 pandemic when nearly half a trillion dollars disappeared on Friday. Around 90 percent of the money tracked suffered a net loss averaging three percent, and nearly all their billionaire friends saw their flippin fortunes shrink.
The list of losses included the world’s richest person, Elon Musk. Just a day after Tesla stock itself plunged 10% in a single day alone, the entire US$31 billion wiped off his net worth since Friday was enough to slash US$130 billion off him year to date. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wasn’t too far off, losing US$27 billion as Meta shares fell nearly 14 percent in two days.
The founder of used car platform Carvana, Ernest Garcia III, watched his company’s stock price sink by 28 percent — eating away US$2 billion from his wealth that is made up of public stocks and knocked him off the global top 500 richest list altogether.
Among all of the financial carnage, there was a rare exception. On Friday, President Trump hint of removing a huge 46% tariff from Vietnam goods — Nike’s key manufacturing source — meant that Nike co-founder Phil Knight posted a modest US$84 million gain. The stock boost helped Knight offset the US$3 billion US$3 billion loss she suffered the day before.
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