Five top billionaires who were present at Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony saw their combined wealth decrease by over $200 billion in just a few weeks after his inauguration.
In the period between Trump's election victory and his inauguration, financial markets were very favourable for the ultra-wealthy.
As per multiple reports, stocks, especially Tesla's surged and significantly increased the wealth of billionaires like Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault and Mark Zuckerberg.
However, the financial optimism quickly faded after Trump took office.
The S&P 500, a key stock index, dropped by 6.4% and market confidence was shaken by issues like government layoffs and Trump’s inconsistent approach to tariffs.
Which billionaires faced the impact of this?
Elon Musk:
Elon Musk experienced the largest financial loss among the billionaires, with his net worth decreasing by $148 billion.
His wealth dropped significantly because Tesla's stock lost all the gains it made after Trump's election.
Additionally, European buyers have started distancing themselves from Tesla, partly due to Musk's public support for far-right politicians.
Tesla experienced a sharp decline in sales in two key markets. In Germany, Tesla's sales dropped by 70% in the beginning of 2025.
While in China, Tesla’s shipments fell by 49% in February which was the worst performance since mid-2022.
Jeff Bezos:
Even though Amazon donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund and Jeff Bezos showed some support by congratulating Trump, it didn't help improve Amazon's situation and since January 17, Amazon's stock has fallen by 14%.
Sergey Brin:
Alphabet, Google’s parent company saw its stock drop more than 7% in February due to missing revenue expectations.
Mark Zuckerberg:
Meta experienced a significant rise in its stock price in starting of the year, gaining 19% from mid-January to mid-February.
However, since then, Meta has lost all of those gains.
Bernard Arnault:
Arnault's company, LVMH saw significant rise in its stock price, increasing by over 20% from election night to January and since then, the company has lost most of those gains.
