CORONAVIRUS UNCERTAINTY WIPES OUT NEARLY $300 BILLION OF THE WORLD’S 20 RICHEST BILLIONAIRES IN A MONTH.


Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon Inc.

Continued market losses amid the Coronavirus pandemic have wiped out $293 billion from the fortunes of the world’s richest people in just about a month. When the Dow Jones reached its all-time high in mid-February, the top 20 fortunes combined for more than $1.4 trillion, which has since crashed to $1.1 trillion according to forbes.

Among the billionaires, the biggest loser over the past one month is LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, whose luxury fashion conglomerate announced Sunday it would convert perfume factories to hand sanitizer production. He has lost a total of $29.6 billion since February 13, leaving his total net worth to about $79.9 billion on Monday, this is after his net worth crossed $100 billion in 2019.

Another big loser is Mukesh Ambani, the founder of Indian’s most valuable Company Reliance Industries, an energy conglomerate. Mukesh Ambani lost one third of his fortune which stands at $38.6 billion now.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, the wealthiest person on the planet, is now the only man worth up to $100 billion, as Bill Gates’s fortune also took a hit of $5.8 billion on Monday and ended at $97.8. The wealthiest man on the planet also lost $5.3 billion to stand at a current net worth of $105.1 billion that brings Bezos total loss since February to $25.6. This is the second biggest drop after Arnault Bernard.

The Monday biggest loser was Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who lost $8.8 billion after Facebook shares lost more than 14%. He is now worth $54.3 billion and a total loss of 31% since Coronavirus market rout.

The former democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg (worth $50.9) and the Koch family, Charles and Julia ($40 billion each) were the only top billionaires to escape from the Coronavirus Pandemic effect. This because their wealth is in private companies, which are not always affected by market fluctuations.