The combined wealth of the world’s 500 richest people dropped by $208 billion following President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs targeting dozens of countries.
Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos were among the top American billionaires hit hardest on April 3, with their fortunes falling by an average of 3.3%, Bloomberg reports. The drop marks the fourth-largest single-day decline in the 13-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index—and the most significant since the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Zuckerberg took the biggest hit, losing $17.9 billion—or roughly 9% of his net worth—after a 9% drop in Meta’s stock. Bezos wasn’t far behind, shedding $15.9 billion as Amazon shares tumbled 9%, marking their steepest decline since April 2022.
Elon Musk, who has already seen his net worth shrink by $110 billion this year, lost another $11 billion on April 4 as Tesla’s stock continued to slide, driven by weak delivery numbers and mounting controversy over his role leading Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Markets were sent into disarray after Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, heightening fears of a potential trade war and looming recession. The S&P 500 tumbled 4.84% to close at 5,396.52, pushing it back into correction territory and marking its worst single-day drop since June 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 1,679.39 points, or 3.98%, to finish at 40,545.93—also its steepest decline since June 2020.
Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite plunged 5.97% to 16,550.61, suffering its biggest one-day loss since March 2020. The selloff was widespread, with over 400 S&P 500 companies ending the day in the red.
Some turned a profit including Mexico’s richest man Carlos Slim, who was one of the few billionaires outside the U.S. to avoid the fallout from the tariffs. His fortune rose by roughly 4% to $85.5 billion after Mexico was left off the White House’s list of reciprocal tariff targets. The Middle East was the only region where individuals on Bloomberg’s wealth index managed to post net gains for the day.
RECENT CONTENT: Trump’s Alleged AI-Powered Tariffs, A Masterclass In Foolishness And Misguided Policy
