In the span of eight minutes, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell sparked a market rout that cut the fortunes of America’s richest people by $78 billion.
Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk saw $5.5bn erased from his wealth. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lost $6.8bn, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The fortunes of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and legendary investor Warren Buffett declined by $2.2bn and $2.7bn, respectively, while Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s was knocked below $100bn.
Mr Powell used his speech at the Kansas City Fed’s annual policy forum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to reiterate that the US central bank will keep raising interest rates and probably leave them there for a while to reduce inflation.
He was seen as pushing back on a recent rally in US stocks that was fuelled by speculation that policy makers would soon reverse course from their tightening.
The S&P 500 tumbled 3.4 per cent, its worst day since mid-June.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, which counts Microsoft, Amazon, Tesla and Alphabet among its biggest components, fell more than 4 per cent.
Few billionaire fortunes have been spared this year. The world’s 500 richest people lost $1.4 trillion in the first half of 2022, the steepest six-month drop yet for the wealthiest people on the planet.
But US stocks in July posted their strongest monthly advance since November 2020, leading investors to wager that the worst of the market rout was over.
Instead, Mr Powell’s speech served as a reminder that valuations of technology companies remain high by historical standards after an unprecedented run-up during the coronavirus pandemic, when interest rates were pinned near zero.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
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● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
