Elon Musk’s fortune plunged almost $62 billion. Jeff Bezos saw his wealth tumble by about $63bn. Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth was slashed by more than half.
All told, the world’s 500 richest people lost $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022, a dizzying decline that marks the steepest six-month drop ever for the global billionaire class.
It’s a sharp departure from the previous two years, when the fortunes of the ultra-rich swelled as governments and central banks unleashed unprecedented stimulus measures after the Covid-19 pandemic, juicing the value of everything from tech companies to cryptocurrencies.
With policymakers now raising interest rates to combat elevated inflation, some of the highest-flying shares — and the billionaires who own them — are losing altitude fast.
Tesla had its worst quarter ever in the three months through to June, while Amazon plummeted by the most since the dotcom bubble burst.
Though the losses are piling up for the world’s richest people, it only represents a modest move towards narrowing wealth inequality.
Mr Musk, Tesla’s co-founder, still has the biggest fortune on the planet, at $208.5bn, while Amazon’s Mr Bezos is second with a $129.6bn net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Bernard Arnault, France’s richest person, ranks third with a $128.7bn fortune, followed by Bill Gates with $114.8bn, according to the Bloomberg index.
They are the only four who are worth more than $100 billion. At the start of the year, 10 people exceeded that amount, including Mr Zuckerberg, who is now 17th on the wealth list with $60bn.
Changpeng Zhao, the cryptocurrency pioneer who debuted on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in January with an estimated fortune of $96bn, has seen his wealth tumble by almost $80bn this year amid the turmoil in digital assets.
Still, the billionaire class has amassed so much wealth in recent years that not only can the vast majority withstand the worst first half since 1970 for the S&P 500 Index, but they’re likely looking for bargains, said Thorne Perkin, president of Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management.
“Often their mindset is a bit more contrarian,” Mr Perkin said. “A lot of our clients look for opportunities when there’s trouble in the streets.”
That held true in the first half of the year in some of the most distressed corners of the global financial markets.
Vladimir Potanin, Russia’s wealthiest man with a $35.2bn fortune, acquired Societe Generale's entire position in Rosbank earlier this year, amid the fallout from Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. He also bought out Russian mogul Oleg Tinkov’s stake in a digital bank for a fraction of what it was once worth. Mr Tinkov had sanctions imposed against him.
Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executive of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, bought a 7.6 per cent stake in Robinhood Markets in early May, after the app-based brokerage’s share price tumbled 77 per cent from its hotly anticipated initial public offering last July.
The billionaire, 30, has also been acting as a lender of last resort for some troubled cryptocurrency companies.
The most high-profile buyout of all belonged to Mr Musk, who reached a $44bn deal to buy Twitter. He offered to pay $54.20 a share.
He said in an interview with Bloomberg last month that there are “a few unresolved matters” before the transaction can be completed.
“There’s a limit to what I can say publicly,” he said. “It is somewhat of a sensitive matter.”
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
ARGYLLE
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
Understand What Black Is
The Last Poets
(Studio Rockers)
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 630Nm
Price: Dh875,000
On sale: now
Arrogate's winning run
1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016
2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016
5. Breeders' Cup Classic, Santa Anita Park, November 5, 2016
6. Pegasus World Cup, Gulfstream Park, January 28, 2017
7. Dubai World Cup, Meydan Racecourse, March 25, 2017
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
Jawan
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 390bhp
Torque: 400Nm
Price: Dh340,000 ($92,579
