Elon Musk lost $11B—and he wasn’t even the biggest loser: Trump’s tariffs obliterate $208B in billionaire wealth
At the centre of the storm was Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who lost a staggering $17.9 billion in a single day. The tech mogul now stands at $189 billion in total wealth, down $18.6 billion in 2025 alone, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos came in close behind, shedding $15.9 billion. Elon Musk, Tesla chief and a close Trump ally through his advisory roles and links to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), was third on the list. He saw $11 billion wiped off his wealth overnight, bringing his total losses for 2025 to over $110 billion.
“This is not just a tech correction. It’s a direct consequence of aggressive policy moves that are shaking investor trust,” said David Bahnsen, Chief Investment Officer at The Bahnsen Group, speaking to Reuters.
A ‘Liberation Day’ shockwave
Trump’s tariffs—unveiled without warning on Thursday—set a baseline of 10% on most imports from America's major trading partners, many of which will face even steeper duties. The president framed the move as a patriotic push to restore economic fairness, saying:
Live Events
“The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom … I think it’s going very well.”
Investors sharply disagreed. The S&P 500 plummeted 4.85% in one of its worst single-day drops since 2020, closing at 5,395.92. The Nasdaq Composite crashed nearly 6%, while the Dow Jones tumbled close to 4%.
In total, the top 500 public companies lost around $2.4 trillion in market value overnight, with tech firms bearing the brunt. Reuters reported that $760 billion in capitalisation was erased from tech giants alone.
How much did the billionaires bleed?
Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 billionaire losses
Read on economictimes.indiatimes.com