A shocking market downturn has seen billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bernard Arnault, collectively lose $208 billion in a single day.
The financial blow came after Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on April 2, which rattled global markets and wiped out $2.5 trillion in wealth on Wall Street. This marks the largest one-day decline since the COVID-19 crash and the fourth-largest drop in the 13-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Trump responded to the chaos, posting on Truth Social: “Operation is over. The patient lived and is healing.” He reassured Americans that the U.S. economy would emerge “stronger, bigger, better, and more resilient than ever before,” and predicted that “markets will boom.”
Among the hardest hit were Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Zuckerberg, with a net worth of $189 billion, lost $17.9 billion as Meta’s stock dropped 9%. Bezos, whose net worth stands at $201 billion, saw a $15.9 billion loss, as Amazon’s shares plunged 9%. Bezos’ company, which peaked in February, is now down over 25%.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, also experienced a significant decline, losing $11 billion, bringing his year-to-date (YTD) losses to a staggering $110 billion. His financial troubles are linked to his role in DOGE, which is cutting $1 trillion in government spending. Musk has faced growing backlash, with anti-Musk stickers appearing on cars and protests at Tesla dealerships.
Bernard Arnault, the CEO of LVMH, also saw his net worth shrink by $6 billion, as his luxury brand conglomerate’s shares fell following Trump’s 20% tariff on all imports from the European Union.
Despite the market turmoil, Warren Buffett managed to weather the storm. Although he lost $2.57 billion, his YTD profit remains positive, standing at $23.4 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
