The world’s 400 richest people lost almost US$194 billion this week as world stock markets began the year with a shudder on poor economic data in China and falling oil prices.
Forty-seven billionaires lost US$1 billion or more during the worst week for US stocks since 2011, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The combined drop was almost seven times the US$29 billion lost in the first five trading days of last year. The 400 people on the index had a combined US$3.7 trillion at the end of the week, compared with more than US$4 trillion a year ago.
Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, the best-performing billionaire last year, lost the most, his fortune dropping US$5.9 billion this week as shares of the world’s largest online retailer fell more than 10 percent.
Bezos is the world’s fourth-richest person with US$53.7 billion and more than doubled his net worth last year as investors cheered profits at Amazon.
The world’s richest person, Bill Gates, fell US$4.5 billion to US$79.2 billion, while Spain’s Amancio Ortega, the second-richest, dropped US$3.4 billion to US$69.5 billion.
The combined loss among the billionaires represents a 4.9 percent dip in their total wealth, according to the index, a slightly better performance than world equity markets so far this year. Global stocks tumbled 6.2 percent for the week, according to the MSCI ACWI Index.
There were 11 billionaires among the 400 whose fortunes rose this week, including the five heirs to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The five Waltons added a combined US$2.5 billion as Wal-Mart gained a little more than US$2 per share.
Jim Walton, son of company founder Sam Walton, had the biggest gain, a US$759 million increase.
The combined net worth of the 400 people on the index is US$3.7 trillion, about equal to the GDP of Germany.
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