Billionaires: almost half of them became impoverished, says Forbes – 04/04/2023 – Market

Almost half of the billionaires cited in the ranking released by Forbes on Tuesday (4) lost money in the last year. The number of people with a net worth of 1 billion dollars also fell, from 2,668 to 2,640 in the period, according to the magazine.

Former leader of the ranking, Elon Musk lost, alone, US$ 39 billion of his fortune, estimates Forbes. Musk’s equity has devalued after the purchase of Twitter for an above-market value and controversies on social networks, which brought down the value of Tesla’s shares.

The French Bernard Arnault, who took the top of the list this year, with a fortune of US$ 211 billion (R$ 1.07 trillion), became US$ 53 billion richer, since the publication of 2022. , however, the billionaires on the list lost $500 billion in equity.

Famous billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) and Bill Gates (Microsoft), appear with smaller fortunes in 2023. Bezos, for example, became US$ 57 billion poorer. Amazon, commanded by the billionaire, has already announced the layoff of 27,000 employees in 2023.

Large technology companies have readjusted plans to resist the context of less credit and higher interest rates in the market. Microsoft, Alphabet (owner of Google) and Meta (owner of Facebook) also made cuts.

In the wake of the devaluation of the wealth of US billionaires, Bernard Arnault is the first Frenchman to appear at the top of the Forbes list. Still, Americans lead the way in the number of billionaires, with 735 list members responsible for $4.5 trillion. The Chinese appear in second, with 522 representatives (US$ 2 trillion), followed by India, with 169 (US$ 675 billion).

In addition to Arnault, two other people from outside the US appear among the richest in the world: Carlos Slim Helu, owner of Holding América Móvil, behind Claro, and Indian Mukesh Ambani, from Reliance industries

Forbes identified 51 Brazilian billionaires, among 2,640 people with a fortune of more than 1 billion dollars worldwide. In the national leadership, Vicky Safra is ranked 100th on the global list, and Lemann, 108th.