WASHINGTON: The five wealthiest persons in the world who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration have collectively lost $209 billion following a sharp downturn in the stock market.
Since Donald Trump’s election victory in November 2024 and his inauguration in January 2025, many billionaires have been able to increase their wealth due to their links with the newly elected US president.
However, Bloomberg reported the situation has changed now and five billionaires, including Musk and Zuckerberg, have lost a total of $209 billion.
After Trump’s victory, both his supporters and stocks of various companies saw significant gains.
For example, Tesla’s stock surged by 98 per cent in the first week following the election. Elon Musk’s fortune reached a record $486 billion by December.
However, one of Trump’s key allies has now faced a massive loss of $148 billion.
This dramatic shift is attributed to the decline in Tesla’s stock price, which was impacted by Musk’s support not only for Trump but also for a far-right political party in Germany, along with other controversial decisions made by the billionaire.
The fortune of Mark Zuckerberg, who blocked Donald Trump on Facebook in 2021, also increased after his election victory in 2024. Meta shares increased 9 per cent before the inauguration and another 20 per cent in the first week.
However, all the gains have now vanished, and Mark Zuckerberg himself has lost $5 billion.
Jeff Bezos, who clashed with Donald Trump during his first term over issues related to his delivery service, welcomed the president-elect and donated $1 million to his inauguration in December. Bezos also joined other billionaires for a dinner with Trump.
However, this support hasn’t benefitted Bezos much as he has lost $29 billion as Amazon’s shares dropped by 14 per cent.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, who protested against Trump in 2017, also had dinner with him at the Mar-a-Lago estate after his second presidential victory.
Despite this, Brin’s financial situation hasn’t improved and he lost $22 billion due to Google’s disappointing financial results in the last quarter.
Another billionaire and longtime friend of Donald Trump who suffered losses since the start of his second presidential term is French businessman Bernard Arnault.
The CEO of LVMH, which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Hennessy and others, lost $5 billion after the imposition of tariffs on European luxury items of 10 per cent to 20 per cent.
