According to Bloomberg, 2022 saw a dramatic decline for a handful of billionaires whose fortunes had earlier risen to incomprehensible heights during the COVID era of easy money.
The likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Changpeng Zhao, and Mark Zuckerberg lost a combined total of nearly $392 billion.
Elon Musk lost $25.8 billion on January 27 after Tesla Inc. issued a supply-chain alert. It is the fourth-largest one-day dip in the Bloomberg Wealth Index’s history.
Russian oligarchs lost: The wealthiest individuals in Russia lost $46.6 billion as a group on February 24, the day of the invasion of Ukraine. As soon as sanctions were put in place on Russian “oligarchs” and their businesses by the European Union, Britain, and the United States, it became nearly difficult for corporate tycoons to maintain control over their assets in the West.
Chinese billionaires lost: The wealth of China’s wealthiest individuals lost $64.6 billion on March 14, as the markets there continue to deteriorate. Strenuous efforts to stop COVID’s spread, a weak real estate market and more attention to the technology sector have cost them another $164 billion in 2022, while trade tensions with the U.S. are hurting the second-largest economy in the world.
Some billionaires gained: For some billionaires, there is good news. Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s net worth surpassed those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
In the same vein, several of the richest families in the world, including the Kochs and the Mars family, also saw an increase in fortune.
