THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST



After briefly becoming the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hayleycuccinello/2020/08/31/elon-musk-100-billion-net-worth/#7d8e258880ed">fifth centibillionaire in the world</a> on Monday, August 31, Tesla CEO Elon Musk ended the week down $9.9 billion as tech companies — and their founders’ fortunes — took a hit.



While tech companies have largely been driving the stock market’s surge during the pandemic, heavyweights like Facebook and Amazon took a spill on Thursday and Friday during what some observers&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bd5804ef-94d0-45b4-9c2b-8fb7996ec5f6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">are calling a correction</a>. The S&amp;P 500 was down 2.3% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Index fell 1.8%. Tesla stock started to falter on Wednesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/02/teslas-largest-outside-shareholder-reduces-holding-citing-portfolio-restrictions.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">after news broke that</a>&nbsp;its largest outside shareholder, Scottish investment firm Ballie Gifford, reduced its stake in the company. The stock ended the week down 5.5%.&nbsp;



Even with the decline, Musk is four times wealthier than he was a year ago, with a net worth of $87.9 billion. He is currently the fifth richest person in the world, $5.5 billion ahead of Warren Buffett.



The richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, hit a milestone last week when he became the first person tracked by Forbes with a fortune that exceeded $200 billion. With Amazon shares worth 3% less than a week ago at the market close on Friday, Bezos’ fortune dropped  $5.8 billion to $193.5 billion. His ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott (net worth: $62.4 billion), is $2 billion poorer this week.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="425" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-46514" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/gettyimages-1148401100-594x594-1-300x215.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 6, 2019. (Photo by MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>



Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune fell $4 billion as Facebook shares dropped 3.7% in the past week. He’s been more vocal than ever before about political misinformation on the social media platform and announced steps to mitigate the problem. On Wednesday, he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://gizmodo.com/zuckerberg-drops-300-million-to-support-u-s-elections-1844921516" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$300 million donation</a>&nbsp;to support voting infrastructure, such as protective equipment for poll workers and polling place rentals. On Thursday, he said that Facebook would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2020/09/03/facebook-will-block-new-political-ads-in-the-week-leading-up-to-election-day/#30873f0b7950">block new political ads</a>&nbsp;during the week before Election Day, and flag posts in which a candidate tries to claim a premature victory.&nbsp;



Quicken Loans cofounder Dan Gilbert had a chaotic week as shares of the online mortgage lender’s parent company, Rocket Companies, soared midweek ahead of the company’s first earnings report since it went public in August. Although <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.thestreet.com/investing/rocket-rkt-earnings-mortgage-initial-public-offering" target="_blank">it reported strong profits</a>, the stock corrected itself and ended the week down more than 13%. As of Friday, September 4, Gilbert is worth $51 billion — $7.3 billion less than last week, but nearly eight times richer than he was a year ago.



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HERE ARE THE BILLIONAIRES WHOSE FORTUNES FELL THE MOST THIS WEEK.



The net worth change is from close of markets Friday, August 28, to Friday, September 4.



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">1 | ELON MUSK</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$87.9 BILLION, DOWN $9.9 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH |&nbsp;TESLA



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">2 | DAN GILBERT</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$51 BILLION, DOWN $7.3 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | QUICKEN LOANS



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">3 | JEFF BEZOS</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$193.5 BILLION, DOWN&nbsp;$5.8 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES﻿



SOURCE OF WEALTH | AMAZON



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">4 |  STEVE BALLMER</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$72.9 BILLION, DOWN $4.1 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | MICROSOFT



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">5 | MARK ZUCKERBERG</h4>



NET WORTH | &nbsp;$103.8 BILLION, DOWN $4 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | FACEBOOK



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">6 | LARRY ELLISON</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$74.2 BILLION, DOWN $2.7 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | ORACLE



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">7 | AMANCIO ORTEGA</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$65.3 BILLION, DOWN $2.5 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;SPAIN



SOURCE OF WEALTH | ZARA



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">8 | MA HUATENG</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$57.5 BILLION, DOWN $2.3 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;CHINA



SOURCE OF WEALTH | TENCENT



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">9 | LARRY PAGE</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$70.6 BILLION, DOWN $2.2 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | GOOGLE



<h4 class="has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">10 | SERGEY BRIN</h4>



NET WORTH |&nbsp;$68.7 BILLION, DOWN $2.1 BILLION



COUNTRY |&nbsp;UNITED STATES



SOURCE OF WEALTH | GOOGLE



-Ariel Shapiro, Forbes Staff

Key Speakers At The Satellite 2020 Conference

Elon Musk Down Nearly $10 Billion In One Week As Tech Stocks Plunge

The net worths of big tech’s blue chip billionaires jumped Thursday as soon as stock markets opened. The gains came after both Facebook and Microsoft reported better than expected revenue growth on Wednesday after the market closed. Altogether the value of Facebook and Microsoft shares held by 27 billionaires rose $7.4 billion, thanks to the strong earnings reports.



The biggest gainer by far was Facebook CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/#76f154083e06" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mark Zuckerberg</a>, the largest individual shareholder in the social network he founded in a Harvard dorm room 15 years ago.&nbsp;Zuckerberg’s fortune rose $3.9 billion on Thursday to $71.8 billion.&nbsp;



Despite concerns over its platforms’ data security and privacy, Facebook’s quarterly revenue exceeded $15 billion, a 26% year-over-year increase. The company estimates that 2.1 billion people use one of its services every day. Its share price on Thursday rose 5.8% to $193.26.



Facebook also disclosed a $3 billion to $5 billion legal charge from the FTC, which it claims dragged its diluted earnings-per-share down 55%. The penalty seems to be tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kennethcorbin/2019/04/25/with-billions-at-stake-is-facebook-getting-serious-about-privacy/#51b80cd17ed4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sparked a national conversation</a>&nbsp;about the social media giant’s usage of user data. But investors seemed to shrug off that news.&nbsp;



“We’re making significant investments in safety and security while continuing to grow our community and our business. This quarter once again, shows that we can do both,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/sheryl-sandberg/#24035a5c58b6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sheryl Sandberg</a>, Facebook’s billionaire chief operating officer. The 22 billionaire Facebook shareholders’ stakes&nbsp;are&nbsp;collectively&nbsp;worth $5.7 billion&nbsp;more as of 4:30 pm ET Thursday&nbsp;compared to the market close on Wednesday.



The day’s second-biggest gainer was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/steve-ballmer/#6f6c30644818" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Steve Ballmer</a>, the former Microsoft CEO who still holds more shares in the software giant than any other individual.&nbsp;His fortune jumped $1.2 billion, to $48.2 billion.



Microsoft’s earnings&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jjkinahan/2019/04/25/with-earnings-season-turning-out-better-than-expected-market-mostly-upbeat/#4f0f5fa5553e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shattered expectations</a>, with diluted earnings per share up 20%. Its quarterly revenue climbed 14% to $30.6 billion, largely on the back of its commercial cloud business, which alone has jumped 41% year-over-year.



Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 as its 30th&nbsp;employee and served as CEO from 2000 to 2014. He bought the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers from fellow billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2016/11/19/billionaire-donald-sterling-settles-lawsuit-with-the-nba-over-clippers-sale-to-steve-ballmer/#5ff22915275c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Sterling</a>&nbsp;in 2014&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2016/11/19/billionaire-donald-sterling-settles-lawsuit-with-the-nba-over-clippers-sale-to-steve-ballmer/#5ff22915275c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">for $2 billion</a>. Ballmer has put $2 billion into a donor-advised fund focused on addressing poverty in America.



He’s not Microsoft’s only big winner today. Cofounder and former CEO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/bill-gates/#5e3c50ed689f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bill Gates</a>&nbsp;sold or gave away most of his shares years ago but still enjoyed a $400 million boost. According to Forbes’&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#177b3ef83d78" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">real time wealth tracker</a>, he’s now worth $101 billion,&nbsp;one of just two centibillionaires alive, beaten only by Jeff Bezos. (Bezos’s net worth could&nbsp;skyrocket during trading&nbsp;Friday&nbsp;in the wake of&nbsp;a&nbsp;strong quarterly&nbsp;earnings report from Amazon today.)



Overall, the nine members of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/#24ecdcbf251c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forbes World Billionaires list</a>&nbsp;who have significant stakes in Microsoft—a verifiable “who’s who” of investors that include Gates, Ballmer,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/reed-hastings/#28414fa42782" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reed Hastings</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/charles-simonyi/#14bc0c9f6639" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Charles Simonyi</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/penny-pritzker/#2debe58c216e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Penny Pritzker</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-stevens/#2b9bc6f1345a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Mark Stevens</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/herbert-wertheim/#3bfb9dd9577a" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Herbie Wertheim</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/robert-duggan/#31bb751a526d" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robert Duggan</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/reid-hoffman/#2f4b31cb1849" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Reid Hoffman</a>—saw their fortunes rise a combined $1.7 billion.



Not every billionaire won after Wednesday earnings. Billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/#1ba3a63e7999" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Elon Musk</a>lost over $650 million of his net worth, with Tesla facing a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2019/04/24/tesla-returns-to-the-red-with-bigger-than-expected-702-million-loss/#667cc7a7a2af" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bigger-than-expected $702 million loss</a>.



“This was one of the most complicated quarters I can think of in the history of the company,” Zachary Kirkhorn, Tesla’s new CFO, said on a conference call with analysts.



-Carter Coudriet; Forbes Staff

Tag: steve ballmer

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

Elon Musk Down Nearly $10 Billion In One Week As Tech Stocks Plunge

Zuckerberg, Ballmer Gain Combined $5.1 Billion After Strong Microsoft, Facebook Earnings