Tech ’s Billionaires Just Lost a Fortune
Stocks are tanking, and the tech world’s richest executives are losing billions.
Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google are getting hammered as investors sell their shares and retreat into safer territory. The founders, CEOs and top investors in those companies are losing money quickly.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has lost roughly US$42billion (FJ$89bn) since his net worth and peaked in early September at US$168 bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Amazon’s stock (AMZN) has dropped more than 25 per cent since then and is currently trading around US$1,500 (FJ$3,180) a share, leaving Bezos with a US$126 bn (FJ$267bn) nest egg.
It’s not all bad news for him: Bezos is still the world’s richest person.
On Tuesday, Bezos and wife MacKenzie donated US$100 million (FJ$212m) to two non profits that aim to end homelessness in America.
It’s part of the pair’s pledge to donate US$2bn (FJ$4bn) to fund existing nonprofits that help homeless families and to create a network of preschools in lowincome communities.
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth is also taking a beating.
He’s lost roughly US$34bn (FJ$72bn) from his peak worth in late July and is now worth US$52bn (FJ$110bn).
He ranks as the seventh richest person in the world. Facebook has been rocked this year with a cascading series of problems, including a proliferation of hate speech on its platform, Russian political interference and the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal.
Facebook’s (FB) stock has lost 40 per cent of its value since July and is currently trading around US$130 (FJ$275) a share.
The company continues to struggle with executive departures and damaging exposés. Like Bezos, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have pledged 99 per cent of their wealth to their organisation for philanthropic needs.
They also recently donated US$214 million (FJ$457m) to another nonprofit.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who still owns one per cent of the tech company, has lost US$5 bn (FJ$10bn) from his high in early October.
He’s still worth roughly US$95 bn (FJ$201bn) and ranks as the second richest person the world, according to Bloomberg.
Famed investor Warren Buffett — who counts as the largest shareholder of his company Berkshire Hathaway — is still the world’s third richest person. He’s only lost about US$4 bn (FJ$8bn) since his wealth hit a peak of US$93.4bn (FJ$198bn) in early February. Berkshire Hathaway is the largest holder of Apple stock, which has declined by 23 per centfrom its all time high.
Apple has been hurt by reports that it cut orders for its iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max.
Google execs Larry Page and Sergey Brin have lost a combined US$20 (FJ$42bn) billion from their peak wealth in July. Its stock (GOOG) has shed 20 per cent of its value since July, and on Monday it closed in a bear market for the first time since 2011.