Tech slump and trade war shrink the fortunes of the world’s richest Elon Musk is the most affected among the billionaires, who have seen hundreds of billions of wealth vanish in recent weeks due to stock market declines An old stock market adage says that the market takes the stairs up and the elevator down, a cautionary reminder of how quickly profits that have taken months or years to build up can sometimes evaporate. 2025 reflects this dynamic: the world’s biggest fortunes have witnessed how the initial euphoria over Donald Trump’s victory — celebrated by the elite at his inauguration — has been followed by an even sharper retreat on Wall Street . While it’s not a crash and doesn’t erase the gains from the two-plus years of prosperity enjoyed by U.
S. markets, the impact has been significant, particularly for the largest global fortunes that are heavily dependent on their stock holdings. In just a matter of weeks, hundreds of billions have vanished, driven by the trade war and the economic uncertainty that the new Republican administration is instilling in the market.
A quick glance at Bloomberg’s list of the world’s 10 richest people provides a clear picture of who has been hardest hit by the market correction in recent weeks, with Elon Musk taking the biggest blow. Musk, worth $310 billion, has lost a staggering $175 billion since his peak on December 17 — 56% of his total wealth. He’s followed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has lost $53 bi.