5 billionaires at Trump's swearing-in see over $200 billion vanish in weeks

The start of Donald Trump's second term has been brutal for some of the world's richest billionaires, including those present at his swearing-in ceremony.

In Short

• Top billionaires lose over $200 billion as Trump’s second term rattles markets
• Elon Musk’s fortune plunges $148 billion amid Tesla’s global sales slump
• Tesla, Amazon, Meta stocks tumble, erasing massive post-election gains

When Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20 earlier this year, he was surrounded by some of the world’s richest men. Billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg sat behind him, their fortunes soaring after a stock market rally fuelled by Trump’s victory.

But fast-forward seven weeks, and the picture has flipped.

The start of Trump’s second term has been brutal for these tycoons, wiping out a combined $209 billion from five of them, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

The weeks between Trump’s election win and his inauguration were a goldmine for the ultra-wealthy. The S&P 500 hit record highs, crypto markets surged, and investors rushed in, betting that Trump’s policies would be good for business.

Tesla’s stock exploded 98% after the election, propelling Musk’s net worth to an eye-watering $486 billion by mid-December. French luxury mogul Bernard Arnault saw his wealth climb by $12 billion in just one week.

Even Zuckerberg’s Meta, which had banned Trump from Facebook in 2021, saw its stock jump 9% ahead of Inauguration Day and another 20% in the weeks that followed.

But the party didn’t last.

The S&P 500 has dropped 6.4% since Trump took office. Market optimism has been wrecked by mass government layoffs and Trump’s chaotic back-and-forth on tariffs, which sent the index plunging 2.7% on Monday alone.

The companies that made these billionaires rich have been hammered, losing a combined $1.39 trillion in market value since January 17, the last trading day before the inauguration.

BIGGEST LOSERS

Elon Musk (-$148 billion): Musk had the biggest fall. His net worth, once the highest ever recorded by Bloomberg, has plummeted as Tesla erased all its post-election gains. European buyers have turned away from the brand, partly because of Musk’s open support for far-right politicians.

Tesla sales in Germany crashed 70% in early 2025, while Chinese shipments tanked 49% in February, their worst since mid-2022.

Jeff Bezos (-$29 billion): Bezos, who sparred with Trump over the postal service and his Washington Post ownership during the former president’s first term, surprised many by congratulating him on X (formerly Twitter) after the election.

Amazon even chipped in $1 million for Trump’s inauguration fund. But none of that has helped. Since January 17, Amazon stock has dropped 14%.

Sergey Brin (-$22 billion): Google co-founder Sergey Brin once protested against Trump’s immigration policies but later dined with him at Mar-a-Lago after the November election.

That meeting didn’t stop Alphabet’s stock from plunging more than 7% in February after a revenue miss. Meanwhile, the Justice Department is still breathing down Google’s neck, pushing for a breakup of its search engine business.

Mark Zuckerberg (-$5 billion): Meta was on fire in early 2025, rising 19% from mid-January to mid-February while the rest of the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks stalled. But since then, the company has lost all those gains. The broader Magnificent Seven index has tumbled 20% from its December peak.

Bernard Arnault (-$5 billion): The French luxury kingpin has been close to Trump for years. He even spoke to him the day after the Pennsylvania assassination attempt last July. LVMH soared more than 20% from election night through January but has since given up most of those gains.

Analysts warn that Trump’s proposed tariffs on European luxury goodsranging from 10% to 20%could crush sales, which were already struggling.

The first few weeks of Trump’s return to power have been painful for the world’s richest. The wild gains they made before the inauguration have evaporated, replaced by a harsh reality check. Markets are on edge, government job cuts are rattling investors, and Trump’s trade policies remain as unpredictable as ever.

Some would even say that it is a stark reminder: what Wall Street gives, it can just as easily take away.