Billionaires Present at Trump’s Inauguration Have Lost Over $200 Billion Since Then

When Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20, he was surrounded by some of the world’s wealthiest individuals. Billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg were present at the event, enjoying record-high fortunes fueled by soaring stock markets.

Seven weeks later, the situation has drastically changed. The start of Trump’s second term has marked a dramatic reversal for many of those billionaires who sat behind him in the Capitol Rotunda. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, five of them have collectively lost $209 billion in wealth.

The period between Trump’s election and his inauguration was a boon for the world’s wealthiest, with the S&P 500 Index reaching several all-time highs. Investors poured money into equity and crypto markets, anticipating that Trump’s policies would benefit businesses.

Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. surged 98% in the weeks after the election, hitting a record high. Bernard Arnault’s LVMH gained 7% in the week before Inauguration Day, adding $12 billion to the French magnate’s wealth. Even Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc., which had banned Trump from its social media platform in 2021, rose 9% before the new term began and gained an additional 20% in the first four weeks of Trump’s presidency.

However, expectations that the start of Trump’s new term would continue to drive market returns have been shattered. Since his inauguration, the S&P 500 has dropped by 6.4%, with mass layoffs of government employees and the president’s fluctuating stance on tariffs causing market turbulence. The index fell 2.7% on Monday alone.

The companies behind the fortunes of the inauguration attendees have been among the hardest hit, losing a combined $1.39 trillion in market value since January 17, the last trading day before the inauguration. Here’s a breakdown of some of those losses:

Elon Musk (down $148 billion)

The 53-year-old Tesla CEO’s net worth peaked at $486 billion on December 17, the highest fortune ever recorded on Bloomberg’s wealth index. Most of his gains came from Tesla, whose stock nearly doubled after the election. Since then, the electric carmaker has relinquished all those gains. European consumers have turned away from Tesla due to Musk’s support for far-right politicians, with sales in Germany plummeting by over 70% in the first two months of the year. Shipments to China also fell by 49% last month, reaching levels not seen since July 2022.

Jeff Bezos (down $29 billion)

The 61-year-old Bezos, who clashed with Trump over postal service issues and his ownership of The Washington Post during Trump’s first term, congratulated the president on Musk’s X social media platform the day after the election. Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund in December, and Bezos dined with the president last month, coinciding with his announcement that his newspaper would prioritize personal liberties and free markets in its opinion section. Amazon’s shares have dropped 14% since January 17.

Sergey Brin (down $22 billion)

The 51-year-old co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, who still holds a 6% stake in the company, joined a 2017 protest at San Francisco airport against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. After Trump’s re-election in November, Brin dined with him at Mar-a-Lago the following month. Alphabet Inc.’s shares fell over 7% in early February after the company missed quarterly revenue estimates. Representatives from Alphabet, which is under pressure from the Justice Department to break up its search engine business, met with the government last week, urging a less aggressive stance.

Mark Zuckerberg (down $5 billion)

Meta was the standout performer among the Magnificent Seven tech stocks at the start of the year. While the group of companies that had driven much of the S&P 500’s gains in recent years stagnated, Meta rose 19% from mid-January to mid-February. However, the stock has since lost all those gains. The Magnificent Seven index is down 20% since its mid-December peak.

Bernard Arnault (down $5 billion)

The 76-year-old Arnault, whose family owns the luxury conglomerate behind brands like Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, has been a longtime friend of Trump’s, speaking with him the day after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July. After declining for most of 2024, LVMH surged over 20% from the election through late January but has since given up most of those gains. Morningstar analysts warned last month that a 10% to 20% tariff on European luxury goods could further depress sales, which have already been struggling.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)