According to the latest statistics from capital markets, the top eight wealthiest individuals in the United States have collectively lost nearly 400 billion dollars from their combined fortunes this year. High inflation rates in the US economy and increasing fear of an economic recession in 2023 have made the stock market highly volatile.
Due to high volatility and economic concerns, investors, and traders are selling off shares which tend to be risky. This is stated as a major reason for the decline in the overall wealth of rich people in the United States of America.
The net worth of assets owned by Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone down by nearly 138 billion dollars in the last year. As of Tuesday, assets owned by Elon Musk are worth 132 billion dollars. Despite a fall in net worth, Elon Musk continues to be the richest person in the United States. In the world ranking of wealthy individuals, the second only to Bernard Arnault of France.
The stock of Tesla Inc, which constitutes a major portion of Elon Musks’ assets, has tumbled by more than 70 per cent over the past 12 months. Due to the high volatility in the capital markets and several business decisions of Elon Musk.
Tesla investors are selling shares of electric automobile manufacturers and parking their funds in safer stocks. The decision of Elon Musk to purchase the social networking site Twitter in a multi-billion dollar deal has not gone down well with tesla investors.
Jeff Bezos, owner of American e-commerce giant Amazon witnessed his wealth decreased by $86 billion. Amazon stocks also have been suffering in markets due to selloff pressure from investors. Cofounders of multinational tech giant Alphabet, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, suffered a combined loss of 91 billion dollars in their fortunes.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’s net worth has also tumbled by $29 billion, while former CEO Steve Ballmer has taken a $21 billion hit. Similarly, Oracle cofounder and Tesla investor Larry Ellison has suffered a $17 billion blow to his fortune, while Warren Buffett’s wealth has only dropped by $3 billion
Major tech companies in the United States have witnessed their market value tumble in capital markets due to poor financial performance in the past 12 months. As Federal Reserve hiked interest rates well above expectations of the market, revenue from advertisement and sales dried up, which has a deep impact on tech companies.
Higher interest rates also made bonds and savings accounts more appealing than risky stocks. Investors, therefore, began withdrawing money from capital markers and parking it with banks and bonds.
