The world’s 500 wealthiest individuals lost a combined $500 billion in one week, the largest weekly fall ever tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The drop is an indicator of heightened volatility in technology shares and overall equity markets.
Among the debris of finance, Warren Buffett was the only billionaire who grew richer during the historic dip.
Tech Giants Lead the Fall
Bloomberg’s daily revised list of billionaires lists Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX chief executive officer, recording the biggest single-week decline, down $19.9 billion, and his net worth dropping to $302 billion. Despite losing this much, however, he remains the world’s richest person.
Other prominent tech billionaires that were hit hard include:
- Jeff Bezos (Amazon): -$7.59B | Bloomberg Profile
- Mark Zuckerberg (Meta): -$9.44B | Bloomberg Profile
- Larry Ellison (Oracle): -$10.1B
- Larry Page (Google): -$4.65B
- Steve Ballmer (Microsoft): -$4.36B
- Michael Dell (Dell Technologies): -$4.70B
- Jensen Huang (NVIDIA): -$6.55B
- Not even Bernard Arnault, LVMH chairman and richest person in Europe, was spared—losing $5.23 billion over the same period. See his Bloomberg Profile.
Buffett’s Standout Week
Against this tide of red, Warren Buffett, the sage investor and Berkshire Hathaway chief executive, posted a remarkable gain of $12.7 billion, taking his net worth to $155 billion.
Buffett’s gain was led mainly by the strong performance of Berkshire Hathaway and its portfolio of value stocks that have fared better than technology-laden growth stocks during volatile times.
“Buffett’s disciplined investing style and diversified holdings again proved him to be a peer-beating performer,” said Bloomberg analysts.
YEAR-TO-DATE PERFORMANCE SNAPSHOTS
The biggest year-to-date drops of 2025 are:
• Elon Musk: -$130B
• Jeff Bezos: -$45.2B
• Larry Ellison: -$42.1B
• Larry Page: -$34.6B
• Jensen Huang: -$31.3B
• Mark Zuckerberg: -$28.1B
Whereas the rest grapple with worst loss in history, Buffett alone is in the black, with a YTD gain of $12.7B.
WHAT’S BEHIND THE SELL-OFF?
The record-breaking loss is attributed to analysts to numerous factors including:
• Increased inflation worries and rising interest rates
• Q1 soft tech profits
• Regulatory and geopolitical tensions in global markets
• A broader rotation out of growth stocks and into value investments
“It’s a rebalancing that’s been overdue,” economist Lydia Boudreaux told CNBC in an interview. “The ultra-wealthy are especially vulnerable when tech stocks take a hit.”
The Takeaway
In one of the worst weeks on record for the billionaire elite, Warren Buffett was the exception — not just for his gain in net worth, but as an example of wise long-term investing in a time of wild, fast-paced financial ups and downs.
While markets globally continue to oscillate, Buffett’s formula can be used as a blueprint: value, patience, and diversification.
Sources:
• Bloomberg Billionaires Index
• Forbes Real-Time Billionaires
• Berkshire Hathaway Official Website
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