As the sun set on Friday, a wave of uncertainty swept across the financial world. Billionaires, who once seemed untouchable, watched in shock as their fortunes dwindled. Among the hardest hit were India’s own Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, their combined losses amounting to billions of dollars, leaving investors and analysts scrambling for answers.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, bore the brunt of the decline, losing a jaw-dropping $15.2 billion on Friday. The wealth erosion didn't spare others; Elon Musk, the world's richest man, saw his net worth shrink by $6.57 billion, while Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire and chairman of LVMH, experienced a $1.21 billion dip.
The primary culprit behind this financial bloodbath was a disappointing global market performance, triggered by weak weekly unemployment data from the US. The Nasdaq 100 index dropped by 2.4 percent, leading to an 8.8 percent drop in Amazon shares. This drastic fall in share prices translated directly into a monumental decrease in Bezos' wealth, now standing at $191.5 billion. Bloomberg reports that Bezos' losses from Amazon shares are part of a broader trend this year, as he has offloaded about $8.5 billion worth of shares over nine trading days in February.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and ranked 11th on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, wasn't spared either. He witnessed a $1.20 billion decrease in his wealth, reducing his net worth to $113 billion. Close on his heels, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, ranked 12th, saw his fortune decline by $1.34 billion, bringing his total to $110 billion.
This financial upheaval wasn't confined to a few; the wealth of the top 22 billionaires saw continuous declines. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates also suffered losses of $3.39 billion and $1.95 billion respectively.
The market volatility reflects broader investor anxiety, particularly around the high-profit expectations from artificial intelligence (AI) and fears of market overconcentration. This sentiment mirrors the dramatic fall in Amazon shares, reminiscent of the company's struggles in April 2022 when it announced continued heavy investments in AI, even at the cost of short-term profits.
As the dust settles, the billionaire ranks have been reshuffled, demonstrating the precariousness of even the most colossal fortunes amid global market instability.
