Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos 'take a hit' from Trump's reciprocal tax

Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk were all present behind Trump at his inauguration, but now all have lost tens of billions of dollars. Photo: New York Times .

Global financial markets were rocked on April 3 after President Donald Trump announced a series of new tariffs. The Trump administration called it part of “Liberation Day,” a campaign to reshape the global economy in a way that is more favorable to the United States.

It triggered a wave of stock selling, wiping out $208 billion from the combined fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people in a single day, the fourth-largest drop in the 13-year history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the biggest blow to the super-rich since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Panic spread across stock markets, dragging down tech stocks, a group of companies that have benefited greatly from the wave of AI investment in recent years.

More than half of the billionaires tracked by Bloomberg lost an average of 3.3% of their personal wealth. The hardest hit were American billionaires, with tech giants like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jeff Bezos of Amazon leading the list of losers.

Billionaires hit hardest

Meta shares fell 9% on the day, wiping $17.9 billion off Zuckerberg’s fortune, or about 9% of his total wealth. It’s a big drop for the founder of Meta, once a shining star among the “Magnificent Seven” — a group of the top seven tech companies with the largest market capitalizations.

Meta added more than $350 billion in market capitalization from the start of the year through mid-February. But since then, the stock has fallen nearly 28%.

Jeff Bezos suffered the same fate. Amazon shares fell 9%, the biggest drop since April 2022. His fortune fell by $15.9 billion . Amazon shares are now down more than 25% from their February peak.

As a special advisor to the Trump administration, Elon Musk continued his dark days by losing another 11 billion USD . This figure brings his total assets evaporated since the beginning of the year to 110 billion USD .

The market had previously expected that the new tariffs would have little impact on Tesla, which produces more cars in the United States than its foreign rivals. However, Tesla shares fell 5.5% immediately after Trump's announcement.

Among the most heavily affected American billionaires, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jeff Bezos of Amazon are at the top. Photo: Bloomberg.

Billionaires outside the tech sector have not been spared either. Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest man and chairman of luxury conglomerate LVMH, lost $6 billion as the Paris market plunged, largely because the EU is preparing to impose a 20% tariff on goods exported to the US, including wine and luxury goods.

Meanwhile, a few billionaires have benefited from the situation. Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, saw his fortune increase by 4% to $85.5 billion after Mexico was spared from Trump’s tariff list. The country’s Bolsa stock index rose 0.5%, helping Slim escape the sell-off.

Trump supporters are now paying the price

According to the Independent , this crisis has become even more bitter for billionaires who enthusiastically supported Trump in the 2024 election campaign. Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk were all present behind Trump at his inauguration, but now all lost tens of billions of dollars.

When Trump took office, many tech CEOs expected a policy of cutting regulations, creating conditions for the AI ​​industry. Photo: New York Times.

Elon Musk has donated more than $290 million to the Trump campaign and Republican-affiliated organizations. Meta and Amazon each contributed $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. Apple CEO Tim Cook also personally donated $1 million .

When Trump was elected, tech leaders had hoped that his administration would boost the US AI industry and reduce regulations that were stifling the market. Jeff Bezos said in December: “I’m very optimistic that President Trump is serious about the deregulation agenda. If I can help him do that, I will, because America is really over-regulated.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has also expressed support, especially in the area of ​​AI infrastructure. “One of the biggest barriers to AI is infrastructure, including energy and the speed at which technology can be deployed. I think President Trump is thinking seriously about these issues and I hope we can make progress,” Pichai said in December.

In a show of goodwill toward the Trump administration, Meta has even eased its content moderation and diversity policies, and added Dana White — the UFC president and Trump ally — to the company's board.

Source: https://znews.vn/mark-zuckerberg-jeff-bezos-ngam-don-thue-quan-ong-trump-post1543156.html