United States

Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, experienced a significant decline in his net worth, which fell by $15.2 billion, leaving him with $191.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. This dramatic drop reflects broader turbulence in the tech sector.

Advertisment

The Nasdaq 100 Index experienced a 2.4% decline, which adversely affected the net worth of several tech billionaires. Elon Musk's fortune decreased by $6.6 billion, while Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. saw a reduction of $4.4 billion. 

Also read | US sues TikTok over privacy violations involving children under 13

Technology billionaires Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Mark Zuckerberg each lost more than $3 billion when shares of Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet crashed in the New York trade. The combined drop in their fortunes amounted to $68 billion, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

Advertisment

Also read | Woman fined £11,000 over five-minute parking rule in UK

Amazon.com Inc. saw its shares fall by 8.8% amid a broader market selloff, reducing Jeff Bezos' net worth to $191.5 billion. This significant loss marks Bezos' third-largest one-day decline, following a $36 billion drop on April 4, 2019, due to his divorce settlement, and a 14% plunge in Amazon shares on April 29, 2022.

Also read | Sunderland riots: Police station torched, mosque surrounded by far-right mob - VIDEO

Advertisment

Investors are worried that this year’s big profits from AI might be too high or that the market is too focused on just a few companies. Amazon’s stock saw its biggest drop since April 2022 after the company revealed it plans to keep spending a lot on AI, even if it means making less money in the short term.

Also read | US: 90% chance of tropical storm hitting Florida; Governor DeSantis declares state of emergency

At 60 years old, Bezos has been actively selling Amazon shares throughout the year, including $8.5 billion worth in February and an additional planned sale of 25 million shares worth $5 billion last month when Amazon reached a new record high.

(With inputs from agencies)