Topline
The five richest people in the world are worth nearly a combined $46 billion less Thursday afternoon due to a market sell-off spurred by dumping of artificial intelligence stocks, mixed fourth quarter results from Disney and general economic uncertainty as the longest government shutdown in American history comes to an end.
Elon Musk, the richest person in the world.
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Key Facts
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 2.5%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 650 points, or 1.35%; and the S&P 500 was down 1.6% as of Thursday afternoon.
As a result, the richest men in the world saw their net worths tumble, led by Tesla’s Elon Musk (down $17.1 billion) and Oracle’s Larry Ellison (down $12.5 billion), according to Forbes estimates.
The next seven richest people in the world on Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire’s List also each lost billions of dollars, with the top nine losing $58.6 billion altogether by 2 p.m. EST.
The Walt Disney Corporation, a component of the Dow and S&P 500, was among the biggest losers Thursday after missing revenue expectations, though it beat analyst estimates on earnings, and after warning of a potentially long fight with YouTube TV over distribution of its cable channels.
Disney was down nearly 8% as of just after 2:30 p.m. EST on Thursday afternoon, while Shopify, Tesla and Palantir Tech were all down more than 6%.
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Contra
Warren Buffet, the 95-year-old outgoing CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, was $2.4 billion richer on the day as of Thursday afternoon, catapulting him back above the $150 billion estimated net worth mark. Buffett was the only person among the 10 wealthiest in the world with a rising net worth Thursday.
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