After riding a lucrative wave of skyrocketing wealth amid the pandemic-era, work-from-home-induced tech boom, billionaire tech gurus are now starting to watch their net worths crash.
Tech moguls saw over $480 billion of their fortunes evaporate from the start of the year through Oct. 27, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The plummeting tech wealth comes as workers crawl back to the workplace and recession fears, coupled with the Federal Reserve’s tightening of monetary policy aimed at combating inflation, ravage stock markets.
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Here is a look at how seven prominent tech moguls have fared during the apparent tech bust, according to data compiled from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The year-to-date metric measures wealth drops from the start of the year until Nov. 2.
Elon Musk down $75.4 billion
Electric car, space, and Twitter tycoon Elon Musk is the richest man in the world, eclipsing $300 billion at one point, with much of his fortune stemming from his stakes in SpaceX and Tesla. The pandemic had boosted Tesla to become a trillion-dollar company, but as the pandemic high fizzled out, its stock price began to sink.
His worth plunged $75.4 billion in the year-to-date metric. In terms of the year-over-year comparison, the loss is even larger, down $131 billion from $326 billion on Nov. 2, 2021, to $195 billion on Nov. 2, 2022.
Musk recently made waves after closing off his $44 billion takeover of Twitter last week. He unveiled plans to mount a takeover at a time when tech stocks began on a downward bend, leading to some speculation that he could have purchased the company at a cheaper rate.
Jeff Bezos down $77.2 billion
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos may have stepped down as chief of the e-commerce giant last year, but that has not shielded him from the tech bloodletting. Like many other tech behemoths, Amazon boomed during the thick of the pandemic but has been rocked by the transition away in the time since. It has reportedly frozen hiring in some of its operations.
Bezos’s net worth dipped down $77.2 billion in the year-to-date metric. His losses were roughly the same year over year at $77 billion, down to $115 billion on Nov. 2, 2022, from $192 billion on Nov. 2, 2021.
Bill Gates down $31.1 billion
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, once the richest man in the world, took an active role in the pandemic. His foundation donated money to pandemic-related causes, and he occasionally chimed in on the public policy discourse about how to respond to COVID-19.
He saw his year-to-date fortune tank by a whopping $31.1 billion. The plunge was about the same as his year-over-year fall of $30 billion, as his wealth went from $137 billion on Nov. 2, 2021, to $107 billion on Nov. 2, 2022.
Mark Zuckerberg down $90.4 billion
Of all the tech guru wealth hemorrhaging, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg weathered the largest downfall. Shareholders were rattled recently by a dismal earning report that prompted shares to dip drastically.
Behind the scenes, Zuckerberg has reportedly prepared his company for some belt-tightening as his company grapples with headwinds. His wealth, which largely derives from Meta, shot down $90.4 billion year to date. In the year-over-year rating, his fortune-sweating was slightly less drastic. It went down $86.9 billion, from $122 billion to $35.1 billion, between Nov. 2, 2021, and Nov. 2, 2022.
Larry Ellison down $16.7 billion
Larry Ellison owns the largest share of cloud-sharing company Oracle. His wealth fell $16.7 billion year to date, and a more drastic $25.5 billion year over year. Back on Nov. 2, 2021, his wealth stood at $116 billion and has since dropped to $90.5 billion.
Larry Page down $46.6 billion
The co-founder of Alphabet, the company that holds Google, Larry Page has suffered similar wealth shedding as his tech peers. Year to date, the drop rang in at $46.6 billion, which is about on par with the $47.2 billion year-over-year plunge he suffered. His wealth sat at $129 billion on Nov. 2, 2021, and fell to $81.8 billion on Nov. 2, 2022.
Steve Ballmer down $26.4 billion
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stepped down from the tech giant in 2014. He owns extensive shares in Redmond, the company that helps develop the Windows operating system, and the Lost Angeles Clippers.
Ballmer’s wealth shed $26.4 billion year to date and an even steeper $39.7 billion year over year. Back on Nov. 2, 2021, his wealth stood at $119 billion, but it has since plunged to $79.3 billion.
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From the start of the year until Nov. 2, these billionaires collectively saw their wealth shed about $364 billion, according to wealth estimates from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. From Nov. 2, 2021, to Nov. 2, 2022, the hemorrhaging was even starker at roughly $440 billion.
The dramatic downturn in the tech sector has led to speculation that the U.S. may be experiencing a dot-com bust 2.0 of sorts, referring to the tech stock tumble in the early 2000s that was accompanied by a mini-recession.
