2022 was a cloudy year for everyone. While everyone suffered losses, no one was hit harder than tech billionaires, who lost an estimated $575 billion. According to Bloomberg, these billionaires include Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerburg, etc.
The reason for this loss is obvious. Inflation in 2022 was quite high compared to previous years. Digital marketing has also fallen on hard times and those who have actively invested in it have suffered heavy losses.
Microsoft saw its stock fall in 2022 when demand for computers suddenly fell. People stopped using PCs, but that’s a change Microsoft wasn’t prepared for.
Because of this, Steve Balmer and Bill Gates lost a lot of money. Steve Balmer was CEO of Microsoft for 14 years. He quit his job in 2014. He owns a significant amount of stock in Microsoft, and when the company suffered a 28% loss of its stock, Balmer lost $19.4 billion. His net worth is now $86.2 billion.
Bill Gates is a name we all know. He is co-founder of Microsoft. In 2022, his net worth plummeted to $110 billion after suffering a $28.6 billion loss. Although he has invested worldwide, Microsoft owns his largest holdings, and following the company’s collapse, Gates also suffered a huge loss.
Google also suffered a significant loss due to difficulties in digital marketing. This affected two of the billionaires on our list. They are Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both co-founders of Google. Both suffered a loss of $44 billion each.
Sergey Brin owns a large stake in Google’s parent company, Alphabet. After that huge loss, Brin’s net worth is now $79.5 billion.
Larry Page also owns a large stake in Alphabet — he owns 6%. As Alphabet suffered badly, it slowed its hiring process and reduced the distribution of benefits in 2022. At the end of the year, Larry Page’s net worth was $83.1 billion.
Another company that has offended two of the billionaires on our list is Amazon. The first is Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin. His net worth is $107 billion at the end of 2022. Although he has stepped down as Amazon’s CEO, his shares are still the most important in the company. However, we doubt he was happy with his number of shares when Amazon suffered a 50% loss last year. That cost it $85.2 billion.
The second person to suffer from Amazon’s demise is MacKenzie Scott. Scott is a writer and philanthropist. Just like that of her ex-husband Bezos, Scott’s net worth plummeted in late 2022. It amounted to 19 billion dollars. She owns 3% of Amazon’s shares. Despite a huge loss, Ms Scott said she donated $2 billion to organizations helping the underprivileged last year.
Next we have the President of Contemporary Amperex Technology, Zeng Yuqun. He lost $20.7 billion last year, rounding up his net worth to $32.5 billion. Zeng has a 23% stake in the world’s largest electric vehicle company. When demand for electric vehicles in China dropped significantly in 2022, the company suffered a big loss, as did Zeng.
Mark Zuckerberg is also one of the unlucky ones on our list today. The one that was previously the sixth richest in the world is now at number 25. This is due to massive recession losses and digital marketing problems at Meta. Even after laying off 11,000 employees, the company faced many problems. Zuckerburg’s net worth was $45.6 billion at the end of 2022.
Binance has also experienced the worst in the past year. Changpeng Zhao is the co-founder and CEO of Binance. He lost $83.3 billion and his net worth is now $12.6 billion. Not only has Binance suffered a loss, but it is also being watched by investors. She is also under investigation for money laundering allegations.
Finally, we have Elon Musk. He was the richest man in the world until he rose to second place last year. He lost $132 billion in 2022 (which is a unique statistic according to GuinnessWorldRecords) and ended up with a net worth of nearly $140 billion. With most of his shares being owned by Tesla, he has paid the price for the slacking in demand for electric cars. The acquisition of Twitter also didn’t play a positive role for Musk and ultimately diminished his popularity and wealth.
Source: Bloomberg
And you?
What do you think of the information in this Bloomberg study?
Do you think this situation will continue in 2023?
See also:
Elon Musk is no longer the richest man in the world due to a dramatic drop in his wealth
Mark Zuckerberg suffered a major setback for Metaverse, losing $71 billion in wealth after investing in the concept