The 20 richest tech billionaires have lost nearly half a trillion dollars this year.
Moguls including Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have collectively lost more on paper than the market values of most S&P 500 companies.
Decline has occurred due to stock market’s sharp tumble, rocketing interest rates and record inflation.
The world’s richest person, Elon Musk, is still worth $212bn but lost $58.6bn.
Jeff Bezos is worth $134bn but has lost $58.4bn over the last year.
Bill Gates saw his wealth fall by $28.7bn to $109bn.
Even one of the most successful investors in the world Warren Buffet lost $7.53bn over the past year leaving him with $101bn.
The richest tech moguls include Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Larry Ellison and have seen more than $480 billion of their wealth wiped away according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index which ranks the richest people in the world on a daily basis.
Their financial woes were further compounded this week with a slew of tech giants reporting disappointing earnings.
On Thursday Mark Zuckerberg saw his wealth drop a further $11 billion, meaning his net worth has now plummeted more than $100 billion in a little over a year.
Meta reported a decline in revenue for the second consecutive quarter this week.
The company has struggled to come out on top after sinking $70 billion into the Metaverse, its immersive virtual world that has been mocked for containing never-ending empty rooms after failing to attract users.
The company’s revenue slowed for a second straight quarter and raised fresh questions about Meta’s plans to pour more money – at least $10 billion a year – into the virtual realm, as investors raise doubts about growth.
The company is also being hurt by falling advertising sales as it faces competition from TikTok’s wildly popular video app.
The Menlo Park, California, company earned $4.4 billion, or $1.64 per share, in the three-month period that ended Sept. 30. That’s down 52% from, $9.19 billion, or $3.22 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Tech companies experienced strong growth at the start of the pandemic but now high levels of inflation, rising interest rates coupled with a slowing of digital advertising growth have caused earnings to tank with companies now becoming more cost conscious and laying off staff.
The Nasdaq, which consists mainly of tech companies, has fallen by 29 percent in 2022. Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos have each seen more than $58 billion in wealth wiped away this year.
In the last week alone, Musk’s net worth has risen from $200billion to $212 billion, according to estimates by Bloomberg.
From being just shy of $20billion in 2019, the newly crowned ‘Chief Twit’ has amassed fortunes at an alarming rate, hitting currently unbeatable figures of $212billion.
He overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2021 to become the world’s richest man and later became the first person to have a net worth over $300billion.
In a week where his Twitter deal was being finalized, his net worth continued to grow even higher.
A significant amount of Musk’s net worth is said to come from his stocks in automobile company Tesla, which he first invested into and became majority shareholder in 2004. He later became the CEO in 2008.
Despite Musk insisting that he does not believe in selling his shares, he was forced to sell around $7billion of his Tesla stock ahead of his court battles with Twitter.
His stake in Tesla – which is the bulk of his net worth – is now valued at roughly $120billion. However, according to FactSet, at the end of September, his stake stood at 14.9% of its outstanding shares – an investment valued at about $124 billion.
In addition to his Tesla wealth and now his new $44billion Twitter deal, his endeavors with SpaceX have generated stakes worth around $47billion.
The three companies put together create the estimate for his staggering net worth.
Among other business ventures, Musk also owns The Boring Company, which aims to defeat traffic using underground tunnels.
It is believed, alongside his business interests, that Musk also has a number of high-value properties.
Jeff Bezos’ wealth meanwhile, is valued at $134 billion.
Amazon’s shares fell 7 percent on Friday as Wall Street was disappointed with the company’s sales forecast for the current quarter, which fell short of analysts’ expectations.
The 58-year-old has a near-10 per cent stake in the firm he founded in 1994, making him the world’s fourth richest person.
