America’s Billionaires Lose $300 Billion in First 100 Days of Donald Trump’s Return.
In just over three months into Donald Trump’s return to the White House, America’s richest are feeling the heat. According to a fresh piece by Forbes, more than $300 billion vanished from the fortunes of the nation’s top billionaires, with names like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos taking some of the hardest hits. The losses mirror a rough ride on Wall Street, which has seen its worst kickoff to a presidency in more than 50 years.
Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX boss, stands out as the biggest loser so far. His net worth has taken a nosedive of more than $45 billion. Tesla’s stock is down about 33 percent since January, dragged lower by supply chain headaches and the growing backlash over Musk’s political takes. Once an open fan of Trump’s business-friendly policies, Musk has recently been clashing with top White House figures, especially Peter Navarro.
Both the S&P 500 and the Dow have slipped around 8 percent since inauguration day. Analysts point to market jitters over the administration’s revived trade battles and aggressive tariffs as the core reason for the slide.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder, watched his personal fortune shrink by $34.8 billion. Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin dropped $27.4 billion and $25.6 billion respectively. Mark Zuckerberg of Meta lost $21.5 billion. Even Larry Ellison, a longtime Trump supporter and major player in a new $500 billion AI project, saw his net worth shrink by $28.2 billion. Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, who rejoined Trump’s 2024 campaign, took a hit of almost $11 billion.
But not everyone is bleeding.
Warren Buffett is the odd man out in this story. His investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway, is up 13 percent, adding $19.6 billion to his personal coffers. With over $334 billion in cash, Buffett has used the downturn to his advantage, sidestepping the pitfalls that caught most of his peers.
There are a few others who came out ahead. Peter Thiel and Palantir’s Alexander Karp are up thanks to profitable federal deals. And the Walmart heirs, the Walton family, have each added over $3 billion as inflation pushes consumers toward discount shopping.
Even Trump himself has not been spared. Forbes says the former president is down $1.5 billion, mainly due to a sharp drop in the value of his media company. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, have fallen by 35 percent since January.
