Tech chiefs lost hundreds of billions of dollars this year
In 2022, a year in which the global economy was shaken, stock assets and technology companies were negatively affected by macroeconomic developments. As corporate shares fell sharply, the assets of the billion-dollar giants melted.
While sales, which grew so fast during the pandemic, slowed in 2022, technology stock values have dropped significantly this year. Tech giants, which have grown at breakneck rates over the past decade, have begun hiring freezes and mass layoffs due to slowing economies.
HIS WEALTH IS STILL GIANT
But even when tech bosses lose billions of dollars, they still have huge fortunes. For example, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune is worth $45 billion. This figure is greater than the gross domestic product of the Icelandic economy.
Also, the wealth of many billionaires is much higher than it was in 2019. Because extremely rapid growth during the pandemic period filled the portfolios of billionaires in 2020 and 2021.
Still, geopolitical crises, inflation, rising interest rates and slowing economies have caused the wealth of bosses to shrink significantly in 2022. Here’s how the tech leader’s fortunes have turned this year:
elon musk
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, has lost $140 billion in net worth this year. Musk’s loss has surpassed all billionaires this year.
Musk remained the richest person in the world for most of the year. However, Musk, who has most of his wealth in Tesla shares, transferred the crown to him and his shares have lost 70 percent this year.
In addition to the general plunge in stock markets, Musk’s sale of Tesla shares to buy social media company Twitter for $44 billion also flew under the radar of investors.
Towards the end of the year, Tesla began to experience the worst period in its history. Selling intensified in the company’s shares on Tuesday, with shares falling 11 percent in one day.
Yesterday’s sharp drop in shares came after Tesla’s factory in Shanghai, China, faced a new wave of covid and the news that it will stop production for a week. Musk’s fortune melted $8 billion in one day.
jeff bezos
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has had one of his worst years in the market this year, losing nearly $86 billion as the company’s shares fell nearly 50 percent year-over-year.
Bezos, who stepped down as chief executive last year but remains Amazon’s largest shareholder, is also the founder of space travel company Blue Origin and owner of The Washington Post, which he bought in 2013 for $250 million.
While Amazon’s massive growth during the coronavirus pandemic has slowed this year, the company grappled with high inflation and an economic chill in 2022. Amazon also began the process of removing about 10,000 people.
Mark Zuckerberg
The net worth of Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of Meta, the umbrella company for Facebook, Instagram and Whatapp, has melted by roughly $81 billion this year. The Facebook founder was ranked sixth at the end of last year according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zuckerberg has slipped to 25th place this year.
2022 has been a difficult year for Facebook, which has announced that its parent company will change its name to Meta. Zuckerberg made it too focused on the virtual universe Metaverse.
The company has struggled due to competition from TikTok and other social media apps. In addition, the shrinking of the digital advertising pie due to economic developments had a negative impact on the company.
Meta reported that its revenue fell in the first two quarters of this year. The company announced plans to lay off 11,000 workers this fall to cut costs.
LARY PAGE AND SERGEY BRIN
Google founders and Alphabet board members Sergey Brin and Larry Page have lost a total of $88 billion this year.
One of the companies most affected by the events of 2022, which was a bad year for digital advertising, was Google. Alphabet cut hiring this year and shut down Stadia, its cloud streaming service for video games.
BILL GATES
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates lost about $29 billion in 2022. This decline in Gates’s wealth paralleled the stock market crash.
On the other hand, while Gates’ investments diversified with large stocks across multiple companies, real estate and large farmland, the famous billionaire’s most valuable asset remained Microsoft shares, which are down 30 percent this year. .
Microsoft’s cloud services revenue rose 24 percent in the latest quarter, while sales of the Windows operating system fell 15 percent. The company also said it expects its cloud revenue growth to slow next year.
Steve Ballmer
Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, has lost more than $20 billion this year due to the company’s stock plunge.
After Ballmer retired from Microsoft in 2014, he bought the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA, the US national basketball league, for $2 billion. Ballmer also spent a significant amount of money in the process of rebuilding the team’s stadium, the Intuit Dome.