Donald Trump’s tariff announcement on Liberation Day, April 2, has sent shockwaves across global markets, wiping out $2.5 trillion in wealth on Wall Street. Many billionaires, including his “friend” and “patriot” Elon Musk, saw their combined wealth plunge by $208 billion. This is the largest one-day decline since the COVID-19 crash and the fourth-largest in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index’s 13-year history.
Trump acknowledged this shock as he posted on Truth Social: “Operation is over. The patient lived and is healing.” He reassured Americans that the US economy would emerge “stronger, bigger, better and more resilient than ever before”. In a separate post, he added that “markets will boom”.
Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Musk take the biggest hits
Among those hit hardest by the market shock were Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The Facebook CEO, who has a net worth of $189 billion, lost $17.9 billion as Meta’s stock plummeted by 9%. Jeff Bezos suffered a $15.9 billion loss as Amazon shares plunged 9%. Bezos, who started the company from his garage, has a net worth of $201 billion. now down more than 25% since their peak in February. His company’s stocks peaked in February and are now down by more than 25%.
Elon Musk also saw his net worth tumble by $11 billion, bringing his year-to-date (YTD) losses to a staggering $110 billion. The financial troubles for the world’s richest person come from his role at DOGE, which is aggressively cutting $1 trillion in government spending. Many have plastered anti-Musk stickers on their cars in protest, with one saying, “I bought this before Elon went crazy”. Some have vandalised multiple Tesla dealerships in protest.
As Trump imposed a 20% tariff on all imports from the European Union, Bernard Arnault lost billions of dollars. Arnault’s LVMH, which is a conglomerate of luxury brands including Christian Dior, Bulgari and Loro Piana, saw its shares tumble in Paris, shrinking his net worth by $6 billion.
While the market crash hit most billionaires, Warren Buffett weathered the storm. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Buffett lost $2.57 billion but remains in the green. His YTD profit still stands at $23.4 billion.
The “Oracle of Omaha”, who began investing at age 11, recently stressed the importance of focusing on company fundamentals rather than short-term stock fluctuations. He believes that “if a business does well, the stock eventually follows”. Buffett also emphasised the need for informed decision-making, warning that “risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing”. According to him, patience and strategic investments during market downturns can lead to significant long-term gains despite market volatility.
Trump’s tariff blitz: No country spared
US President Donald Trump has imposed at least 10% tariffs on all countries in the world, including even two uninhabited islands: the Heard Island and McDonald Islands, home to penguins. He has imposed a 26% reciprocal tariff on India, despite maintaining that the PM is his “great friend”. “The Prime Minister just left. He’s a great friend of mine. But I said, ‘You’re a friend of mine, but you haven’t been treating us right’. They charge us 52%, but we charge them almost nothing for years and decades. It was only seven years ago when I came in.”
He has imposed 34% on China and 20% on the European Union, among others. In addition to this, a 10% baseline tax has been introduced on imports from all countries.
This comes after he announced a 25% tariff on auto imports, affecting China, Canada, and Mexico.
Trump said that for decades, the US has been “looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by both friend and foe” and it is about time to put an end to it.