World’s 50 richest people have lost $800 billion this year

The world’s 50 richest people – among them Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos – have lost a staggering combined total this year.

The 50 wealthiest people in the world have lost a combined total of almost $800 billion this year due to the tanking stock market, according to the latest figures compiled by Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The top 50 richest, which includes Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault, have lost a combined total of $US563 billion ($A795 billion) in net worth through May 22, according to Bloomberg.

Musk, the world’s richest man who has temporarily put on hold his $US44 billion ($A62 billion) acquisition of Twitter, has lost $US69.1 billion ($A97.6 billion) – the most of any person on the list. He now has a net worth of $US201 billion ($A284 billion), the New York Post reports.

Bezos, the world’s second richest man, stepped down as CEO of Amazon last year to focus on his space travel company Blue Origin.

He has seen his net worth fall by $US61.1 billion ($A86.3 billion). His wealth is now valued at $US131 billion ($A185 billion).

Arnault’s net worth is $US123 billion ($A173 billion). The French billionaire, the third richest man in the world by virtue of his position as CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, has seen his wealth decline by $US52.2 billion ($A73.7 billion) this year.

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Elon Musk has lost $97 billion since the start of the year. Picture: Kenny Oliveira/Brazil's Ministry of Communication/AFP

Jeff Bezos, the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of $185 billion, has lost $86 billion so far this year. Picture: David Ryder/Getty Images North America/AFP

Gates, the software pioneer who left Microsoft to become a full-time philanthropist, is worth $US116 billion ($A163 billion).

Since the start of 2022, his net worth has fallen by $US21.7 billion ($A30.6 billion).

Meanwhile Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, who recently spoke of his hatred of cryptocurrency, is one of the few billionaires who has seen his net worth rise this year. Buffett’s wealth is valued at $US110 billion ($A155 billion) – $US1.2 billion ($A1.6 billion) more than where it was at the start of 2022.

Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, saw his fortune shrink by $US54.1 billion ($A76.4 billion). He is now worth an estimated $US71.4 billion ($A100.8 billion).

Bill Gates is another billionaire who has lost money this year. Picture: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images/AFP

Another tech mogul, Google co-founder Larry Page, has seen his net worth drop by $US29 billion ($A40 billion). He now has a net worth of $US99.4 billion ($A140.4 billion).

Google co-founder Sergey Brin’s net worth plunged $US28.2 billion ($A39.8 billion) to drop him to ninth on the list at $US95.3 billion ($A134.6 billion).

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer vaulted into the top 10 richest in the world despite losing $US16 billion ($A22 billion), leaving him at $US89.6 billion ($A126.6 billion) – after Oracle chief Larry Ellison’s net worth fell to $US89.2 billion ($A126 billion) from a $US21.9 billion ($A30.9 billion) hit.

Also managing to make money amid the stock market turmoil was hedge fund king Ken Griffin.

The Citadel Capital CEO has seen his net worth jump by $US8.29 billion ($A11.7 billion), to $US29.6 billion ($A41.8 billion), putting him in 40th spot on the list.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission