It’s official: Elon Musk has broken the world record for the biggest wealth loss in history after shedding $182 billion from his net worth since November 2021, according to a report by Guinness World Records.
Mr Musk, co-founder of Tesla and the owner of social media platform Twitter as well as Space X, started 2023 with a net worth of $138 billion, a sharp drop from the peak of his wealth of $320 billion in 2021, Forbes magazine data shows.
However, Mr Musk's current net worth has edged up to $146 billion and he is ranked as the world's second-richest person, the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List showed on Monday.
“Even though Musk has lost more money than any human in history, he won't be going hungry any time soon — he’s still the world’s second-richest person,” Guinness World Records said.
Global economic uncertainty — exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war, high inflation and rising interest rates — has increased volatility in financial markets, resulting in the world’s wealthiest billionaires losing nearly a combined $2 trillion in 2022.
Mr Musk was not the only billionaire to suffer a record loss to his personal wealth in 2022, according to Forbes.
“In a year of unprecedented wealth destruction, four other billionaires fell by record sums as tech stocks tanked,” Forbes said.
Here, we list the top five biggest net-worth billionaire losers of 2022.
1. Elon Musk
Peak wealth: $320 billion (November 2021)
Mr Musk, 51, was the world’s richest person for 14 months, but lost his crown to Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury group LVMH, on December 12.
This is because the majority of Mr Musk’s personal fortune is tied to Tesla stock, which has lost about 67 per cent in value since January 2022, when it was trading at $399.93. The Nasdaq-listed company ended trading on Friday at $122.40.
Shareholder concerns also deepened over Mr Musk’s distraction with Twitter, which he bought in October for $44 billion.
2. Jeff Bezos
Peak wealth: $211 billion (July 2021)
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos started 2022 as the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of $194.2 billion.
Once the world’s richest person, Mr Bezos lost $87.6 billion, or 45.5 per cent, of his personal fortune in 2022, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
His current net worth is $118 billion, driven down by the value of Amazon stock over the past year, Forbes said.
Amazon’s decreased stock value comes during a slowdown in sales for the world’s biggest e-commerce retailer as high global inflation continues to affect consumers.
3. Mark Zuckerberg
Peak wealth: $140 billion (September 2021)
Perhaps the biggest fall out of the world’s top 10 richest list is that of Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook.
With a current net worth of $48.2 billion, Mr Zuckerberg is now the world’s 26th-richest person — down from a high of number three in 2021.
Mr Zuckerberg dropped $77 billion from his net worth in 2022 after shares of his social media company tumbled 64 per cent, Forbes said.
4. Larry Page
Peak wealth: $129.5 billion (December 2021)
The tech stock rout in 2022 also dragged down the personal wealth of Larry Page, who co-founded Google with Sergey Brin in 1998.
Google parent Alphabet’s shares sank by 39 per cent in 2022, causing the billionaire to lose $46 billion from his net worth, Forbes said.
He now has a net worth of $80 billion and is the 10th-richest person in the world, according to Forbes.
5. Sergey Brin
Peak wealth: $124.6 billion (December 2021)
Mr Brin joined the exclusive $100 billion club in April 2021, as tech stocks surged during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, he lost his centibillionaire status after losing $45 billion from his personal fortune in 2022, according to Forbes.
Finally, a special mention must go to Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder and former chief executive of collapsed cryptocurrency trading platform FTX.
Mr Bankman-Fried, 30, lost his $16 billion fortune overnight, in what has been described as the biggest one-day loss on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after FTX filed for bankruptcy in November.
Now under house arrest in the US, he has been charged with eight criminal counts, including conspiracy and wire fraud, for allegedly misusing billions of dollars in customer funds before the $9 billion collapse of FTX and Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency trading company.
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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THE BIG THREE
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
19 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 5 (2011, 14, 15, 18, 19)
French Open: 2 (2016, 21)
US Open: 3 (2011, 15, 18)
Australian Open: 9 (2008, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21)
Prize money: $150m
ROGER FEDERER
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 8 (2003, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12, 17)
French Open: 1 (2009)
US Open: 5 (2004, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Australian Open: 6 (2004, 06, 07, 10, 17, 18)
Prize money: $130m
RAFAEL NADAL
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 2 (2008, 10)
French Open: 13 (2005, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
US Open: 4 (2010, 13, 17, 19)
Australian Open: 1 (2009)
Prize money: $125m
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Easter%20Sunday
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
