This week hasn't been a good week for billionaires given the massive drop in global stock prices. Collectively, the top 10 richest people in the world lost a combined $30 billion from their net worth as the stock prices of their respective companies experienced significant drops.
According to Forbes, the world's richest person, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, lost around $4.8 billion this week. The loss sent his total net worth down to "just" $123 billion. The drop was a direct result of the 4 percent decline in the value of Amazon's stock prices this week. Despite the drop, Bezos still remains to be the richest person on the planet, well ahead of his peers.
Bezos' ex-wife, Mackenzie, who won a substantial amount of Amazon shares after her divorce, also saw a big chunk of her net worth disappear this week. Her net worth dropped by about $1.7 billion this week, dropping her to 23rd position of the world's richest people.
Bezos's loss on Monday was equaled only by the loss incurred by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, moving him very close to losing his $100 billion net worth status. The CEO of the luxury goods conglomerate, LVMH, lost around the same amount, dropping his total net worth to $100.4 billion.
Apart from affecting the stock prices of retail giants, the global equity market dip at the start of the week also saw shares of social media companies drop by significant amounts. Social media giant Facebook saw its share prices drop by 4.5 percent on Monday, heavily affecting stockholders. The company's founder Mark Zuckerberg ended up losing the most money, with around $3.4 billion erased from his total net worth.
Despite the loss, Zuckerberg still managed to narrowly hold on to his fifth-richest person title. The loss dropped the 35-year-old tech entrepreneur's net worth to $74.4 billion. Right below Zuckerberg, Zara CEO Amancio Ortega also lost a substantial amount of money on Monday. Ortego retained his position as the sixth-richest after losing nearly $4 billion.
US electric vehicle manufacturing company, Tesla, which saw its stocks rally over the past couple of months, experienced a 7.5 percent decline on Monday. The decline in its stock prices erased around $2.4 billion from Elon Musk's fortune. Prior to the rally and the drop this week, Tesla's stocks had been fluctuating following a series of events related to its business.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who once held the title of the world's richest person, lost the least amount of money during this week's global stock decline. The billionaire philanthropist reportedly lost around $1.5 billion this week, sending his total net worth to $111.1 billion.
