Following Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping border taxes, global stock markets have been shaken, leaving some of the president’s business allies grappling with the financial fallout.
In the first two days of trading after Trump’s “liberation day” speech last Wednesday, the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals saw a staggering $536 billion (£417 billion) in collective losses. This marked the largest two-day drop in wealth ever recorded by Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. Among those affected, several prominent tycoons who have supported Trump or attended his inauguration have seen their fortunes significantly diminish. Here, we highlight the four billionaires who have been hit hardest by the market chaos, as well as one billionaire who is still thriving this year.
ELON MASK
The world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, who has already seen his wealth decline significantly due to his high-profile and controversial role in Trump’s administration, has taken the largest hit by far.
Tesla had already been facing backlash from potential buyers over Musk’s behavior, and as the company’s stock plummeted, $31 billion was wiped from his net worth between Thursday’s market opening and Friday’s close. With Tesla’s stock dropping, Musk’s private space venture, SpaceX, has now become his most valuable asset.
So far this year, Musk’s wealth has fallen by $130 billion. Despite this, he remains the world’s richest individual with an estimated net worth of $302 billion. On Monday afternoon, Tesla’s shares dropped nearly 5% on Wall Street, further adding to his losses.
MARK ZUCKERBERG
The Facebook founder and owner of Instagram and WhatsApp, Mark Zuckerberg, experienced the second-largest loss, shedding more than $27 billion.
As the world’s third-richest person with an estimated net worth of $179 billion, Zuckerberg was hit hard by a sharp drop in Meta’s stock, which fell nearly 14% over two days amid the tariff war that particularly impacted tech companies. On Monday, the stock rebounded slightly, rising by almost 1%.
Many of the largest global companies, including Meta, depend on Asian markets—which were hit with the heaviest tariffs by Trump—for manufacturing, computer chips, and IT services.
Zuckerberg, who made a significant “Trump pivot” with Meta just weeks before Trump assumed office, has seen more than $28 billion wiped off his personal wealth so far this year.
JEFF BEZOS
The Amazon founder and owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, suffered the third-largest two-day loss, with his net worth dropping by $23.5 billion.
Amazon, a major global retailer of imported goods, has seen its market value decline by hundreds of billions of dollars this year. Over 50% of sales on Amazon’s third-party marketplace come from China-based sellers, and its cloud services also depend on technology produced largely by manufacturers in Asian countries like Taiwan.
Bezos, the world’s second-richest person with an estimated net worth of $193 billion, has lost $45 billion from his fortune so far this year. Amazon’s shares saw a slight uptick on Monday, rising by 0.4%.
In February, Bezos’s $10 billion climate and biodiversity fund ceased its financial support for one of the world’s most influential climate-certification organizations, a move many viewed as a concession to Trump and his stance on climate action.
BERNARD ARNAULT
The owner of the LVMH luxury goods empire, Bernard Arnault, lost $6 billion on Thursday and more than $5 billion on Friday as Trump’s tariffs targeted the Asian manufacturing hubs that are crucial to the global garment industry. On Monday, his shares dropped even further, falling over 4%.
Arnault, Europe’s richest person and the fourth wealthiest individual globally, now has a net worth of $158 billion—down $18.6 billion this year alone.
Arnault, who has been friends with Trump since the early 1980s when they first met at a charity dinner, relies heavily on the U.S. as the largest market for his business empire, matching the size of all European sales combined.
Known as the “wolf in cashmere,” Arnault attended Trump’s second inauguration with his wife, son, and daughter. After the event, he remarked, “I have just returned from the US, and I have witnessed the winds of optimism in that country. Coming back to France is a bit like taking a cold shower.”
Since then, the U.S. has imposed a 20% tariff on the EU, while key garment-producing countries in Asia face tariffs as high as 54%.
WARREN BUFFETT
Not all billionaires have experienced a drop in their net worth despite the two-day market rout.
Warren Buffett, the savvy chair and largest shareholder of investment giant Berkshire Hathaway, has seen his wealth grow to $155 billion this year. Known as the “Sage of Omaha,” Buffett is the world’s sixth-richest person, and his annual shareholder meetings have been dubbed “Woodstock for capitalists.” While he did take a $2.57 billion hit during the market downturn, he has gained $12.7 billion in net worth so far this year.
On Friday, Trump posted a video on his social media platform, Truth Social, claiming that Buffett had praised his recent economic policies. However, Berkshire Hathaway quickly issued a statement refuting the claim, stating that the comments attributed to Buffett were false. Following the controversy, the company’s stock fell just over 2% in early afternoon trading on Monday.
