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The shares of the once-hot companies owned by the nation’s IT titans fell this year, costing them a combined total of more than $430 billion.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, had his net worth plummet by a startling $132 billion, displacing him from the top spot in the world’s wealth rankings.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, had his wealth decline by $81 billion, trailing Jeff Bezos, Musk’s competitor in the space race, by $84 billion.
Their losses were almost twice as large as those of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the creators of Google, who collectively lost $44.6 billion. Bill Gates, the creator of Microsoft, lost $29 billion while Steve Ballmer, its former CEO, lost $20.2 billion.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s net worth has decreased from a high of $304 billion in January to $139 billion as of Tuesday. Tesla stock, along with other blue-chip companies listed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, has been in a freefall and is where the majority of Musk’s wealth comes from.
Tesla’s stock traded at $400 per share on January 3. The stock price has decreased by about 70% since that time. Tesla was trading at about $113 per share as of Tuesday afternoon, down more than 8% from Friday.
Bezos was the fifth richest person in the world as of Tuesday. He stepped down from his position as CEO of Amazon last year so he could concentrate on his space exploration business Blue Origin.
Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated Bezos’ current net worth at $108 billion, which is spectacular but less than half of his previous peak of $214 billion in the summer of 2017.
Bezos, who is 58 years old, owns about 10% of the stock in Amazon. As of Tuesday, the stock price of the world’s largest online retailer had dropped from $183 per share last year to about $83 per share.
In the past, Zuckerberg consistently ranked among the top seven richest people on the planet. However, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index currently has him at number 25 on the list.
The ‘false’ report that Mark Zuckerberg intended to step down as CEO causes Meta stock to rise.
A personal all-time high for Zuckerberg’s wealth was $140 billion last year. As of Tuesday, his net worth was estimated to be $44.8 billion.
Since the beginning of this year, the value of Meta’s shares has decreased by more than 65%. It was selling at about $117 per share as of Tuesday.
As part of Zuckerberg’s large wager on the metaverse, the corporation, which is reorienting from its core economic model of relying on advertising on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram, has depleted its cash reserves.
Meta reported a decline in revenue for the second straight quarter at the end of October.
The Menlo Park, California-based business made $4.4 billion, or $1.64 per share, during the three months that ended on September 30. This is a 52% decrease from the $9.19 billion, or $3.22 per share, earned during the same period last year.
Although slightly more than the $27.4 billion that analysts had projected, revenue decreased by 4% to $27.71 billion from $29.01 billion.
Google and Microsoft, two of Meta’s big rivals, witnessed significant declines in their stock prices as well.
Even though they are no longer actively working for the company, Page and Brin nonetheless possess a certain class of voting shares. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Page has an estimated net worth of $83.8 billion as of Tuesday, making him the tenth richest person in the world.
In position 11, Brin was immediately behind him. He has an estimated $80.2 billion in net worth.
The fourth-richest person in the world is Bill Gates. As of Tuesday, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimated his net worth to be $109 billion.
The primary source of the full-time philanthropist’s riches is his ownership of Microsoft stock. The maker of Windows was not exempt from the severe economic downturn that seized the tech industry, as its stock price fell by over 30% this year.
As of Tuesday, Ballmer was the eighth-richest person in the world. His net worth was estimated by Bloomberg Billionaires Index to be $85.5 billion.
What do you think of those Moguls’ net worth slump? Please let us know in the comments.
