Tech billionaires are having a really, really rough 2025

• Eight tech titans have taken a $266 billion blow to their collective wealth this year.
• Their combined net worth fell by $64 billion on Monday as the Nasdaq had its worst day since 2022.
• Elon Musk has had $132 billion, or 30% of his fortune, erased in 2025 following Tesla’s stock slide.

Eight tech billionaires have seen their combined fortunes shrink by an estimated $266 billion this year as President Donald Trump’s policies continue to spook investors.

That figure exceeds the market value of most of America’s largest companies including Salesforce, McDonald’s, and Wells Fargo.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk leads the list of wealth losers, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The world’s richest person has had $132 billion, or 30% of his fortune, wiped out in the past 10 weeks following the 45% slide in Tesla stock in that period.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Dell Technologies’ Michael Dell, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang have each seen more than $20 billion erased from their respective net worths this year as their companies’ stock prices have tumbled. Amazon and Oracle are both down about 11%, while Dell and Nvidia have slumped by north of 20%.

Rounding out the group are Alphabet cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin — down about $18 billion and $17 billion each this year following a 12% drop in shares of Google’s parent company —and Steve Ballmer, who’s down about $13 billion after a 10% decline in Microsoft stock.

The eight tech titans’ collective net worth fell by $64 billion on Monday alone as the Nasdaq Composite slid 4%, its steepest one-day loss since 2022.

The sell-off was sparked by Trump cautioning there would be a “period of transition” for the US economy in a Fox News interview on Sunday.

The president didn’t rule out a recession when asked if he expected one this year. He said his focus was on strengthening America and achieving long-term prosperity: “You can’t really watch the stock market.”

Trump’s sweeping economic agenda is focused on equalizing US trade relations using tariffs, curtailing immigration, lifting regulations, cutting taxes, and downsizing the federal government. His policies have reignited inflation fears and stoked recession worries.

The increased uncertainty has dampened the buzz around AI that had lifted tech stocks and the wider market to record highs this year. One consequence is the world’s 16 wealthiest people are worth $236 billion less than they were at the start of January after a $87 billion decline on Monday, per Bloomberg’s rich list.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg were still up between $4 billion and $5 billion for the year at Monday’s close. The Facebook cofounder took a $9.5 billion wealth hit on the day — second only to Musk’s $29 billion blow.

Three others on the list are in the green for 2025 as they’re less exposed to tech: Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett is up about $14 billion, while LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and Inditex’s Amancio Ortega are up between $6 billion and $7 billion.

The richest of the rich shouldn’t feel too sorry for themselves, as they had a stellar 2024. The top 10 billionaires at the end of December were up more than $500 billion for the year, and worth a combined $2 trillion — about as much as Amazon or Alphabet.