Elon Musk (down $US148 billion)
“First Buddy” Elon Musk on the South Lawn of the White House. Credit: Bloomberg
The 53-year-old Tesla chief executive officer’s net worth peaked at $US486 billion on December 17, the largest fortune ever recorded on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Most of his gains came from Tesla, whose stock nearly doubled after the election.
Since then, the electric carmaker has given up all of those gains, knocking Musk’s net worth down by $US148 billion.
Consumers in Europe have soured on Musk’s support for far-right politicians and his hands-on involvement in the Trump administration, with Tesla sales in Germany falling by more than 70 per cent in the first two months of the year. Chinese shipments almost halved last month to levels not seen since July 2022.
Jeff Bezos (down $US29 billion)
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at the inauguration ceremony.Credit: AP
Bezos, 61, who clashed with Trump over the postal service and his ownership of the Washington Post during the president’s first term, congratulated Trump the day after the election on Musk’s X social-media platform.
Amazon donated $US1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund in December, and Bezos dined with the president last month, the same day that Bezos announced that his newspaper will prioritise personal liberties and free markets in its opinion section.
Amazon shares have fallen 14 per cent since January 17.
Sergey Brin (down $US22 billion)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin.Credit: AP
Brin, 51, who co-founded the company then known as Google with Larry Page and still retains a 6 per cent stake, joined a protest against the Trump administration’s immigration policy at the San Francisco airport in 2017.
After Trump was re-elected in November, Brin dined with him at Mar-a-Lago the following month. Alphabet’s shares tumbled more than 7 per cent in early February after it missed quarterly revenue estimates.
Representatives from Alphabet, which is currently facing pressure from the US Justice Department to break up its search engine company, last week met with the government and asked it to take a less aggressive stance.
Mark Zuckerberg (down $US5 billion)
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg was the biggest winner early this year.Credit: AP
Meta was the standout winner among the Magnificent Seven tech stocks at the beginning of this year.
Even as the group of companies that has powered much of the S&P 500’s gains over the past few years were flatlining, Meta rose 19 per cent from mid-January to mid-February.
Since then, though, the stock has lost all those gains. The Magnificent Seven index is down 20 per cent since its mid-December high.
Bernard Arnault (down $US5 billion)
Long-time buddies: French luxury billionaire Bernard Arnault and Donald Trump.Credit: AP
Arnault, 76, whose family owns the luxury conglomerate behind brands including Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, has been a friend of Trump’s for decades, speaking with the then-candidate the day after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July.
After declining through most of 2024, LVMH jumped more than 20 per cent from the election through late January. It’s since given up most of those gains. Morningstar analysts said last month that a 10 per cent to 20 per cent tariff on European luxury goods could depress sales, which have already been struggling.
Bloomberg
