The index posted a decline of more than 6%, marking its worst single-day performance since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investors sold off tech shares in anticipation of Democrats, who won control of the House and Senate in the recent US midterm elections, imposing stricter regulations on AI development and data-center spending.
Elon Musk suffered the largest individual loss, with his net worth shrinking by approximately $80 billion, a drop of over 9%. The reduction followed an 11% plunge in Tesla shares and a 9% tumble in SpaceX stock, leaving Musk with a net worth of $785 billion. Despite this daily loss, Musk remained the richest person on the planet and was still up $312 billion year-over-year.
Michael Dell’s wealth fell by roughly $19 billion, a 9% decline, as Dell Technologies stock plummeted 15%. His fortune now stands at $190 billion. Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, saw his net worth drop by about $15 billion, or 9%, to $151 billion, after the AI chipmaker’s stock slid 9%. Larry Ellison of Oracle experienced a $10 billion, or 6%, decline in his net worth, which settled at $158 billion, following a 7% drop in Oracle shares.
Mark Zuckerberg of Meta saw his wealth fall by nearly 4%, a loss of about $8 billion, bringing his net worth to $215 billion. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s fortune decreased by roughly $6 billion, or 3%, to $188 billion, as Microsoft stock slumped by about 4%. Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin saw smaller declines of less than 2%, with losses below $5 billion each, as Amazon and Alphabet shares retreated by a little over 2%.
While the one-day losses were significant, most of these executives remained wealthier than they were 12 months prior, thanks to the historic boom in AI stocks. Bezos was up $100 billion year-over-year, Dell by $31 billion, and Ballmer by $13 billion. However, Ellison’s net worth was down $152 billion, or 49%, and Huang’s was down about $19 billion, or 11%, over the same period. Zuckerberg was also in the red for the past year, while Page and Brin saw increases of less than 1%.
As of 6:30 a.m. ET on Friday, shares of Nvidia, SpaceX, and Oracle were higher in premarket trading, suggesting a potential partial rebound in the fortunes of their respective leaders. The interim period before the next major election-related policy announcements remains a key watchpoint for market stability.
