Having to count the damages of what happened since last Thursday, that is, since the US president Donald Trump has started a global trade war, announcing an unprecedented wave of tariffs, It is not only the international stock exchanges and the countries hit by the very heavy tariffs imposed by the White House, but also the billionaires, including the richest men in the world. From friend and ally (probably for a little while yet) Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos, from Mark Zuckerberg to the Frenchman Bernard Arnault, everyone has seen billions of dollars go up in smoke, with a consequent (significant) decline in their wealth. All but one. Always him: Warren Buffett, who with his Berkshire Hathaway is the only billionaire in the top 10 of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to have recorded a gain since the beginning of the year. A performance that comes despite the numerous criticisms received in recent months for the strategy carried out in the last months of 2024 and especially in the post-US elections period.
Duties and Stock Exchanges: The Honeymoon Between Trump and Billionaires Is Over
According to estimates by Bloomberg, in just three days on the global stock exchanges there have been approximately $9.500 trillion burned. And the bill could continue to rise, amid threats, retaliation and counter-duties. Economist Jeffrey Sachs, moreover, said it clearly: that of tariffs "It's a war that everyone will lose”. Billionaires included.
The honeymoon between Donald Trump and the richest men in the world seems to be over, ended badly due to the broadsides received by the latter because of the duties imposed by the president. The bill, in fact, is high. Very high. And It could be just the beginning considering that, once they come into force, the tariffs will not only affect the stock market performance of the securities, but will also erode the profitability of many of the companies on which these billionaires built their fortunes.
Duties and Stock Markets: How Much Have Billionaires Lost?
In the meantime, however, we can already make an initial assessment. Among the first 10 billionaires that make up the ranking of the super rich of Bloomberg, 9 have recorded significant losses in wealth since the beginning of the year. Who lost the most? Elon Musk The richest man in the world, head of Tesla, Space X and Starlink, has paid a high price for his support for Trump and the European far right, but also for his entry into the US administration as head of Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency that is causing panic in the US with layoffs. The result has been a collapse in Tesla sales and shares. Well, since the beginning of the year, Elon Musk's fortune has fallen to 298 billion dollars, down by a good 135 billions of dollars.
Things went badly, very badly, even for the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, which has lost a good amount from January 1st to today 42,6 billion, a decline that brought his wealth to 196 billion dollars. He is closely followed by the number one of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg (-24,5 billion to 183 billion). In Europe, French suffers Bernard Arnault, president and CEO of LVMH, who since January 1st has seen his fortune, now equal to 150 billion, fall by as much as 26,6 billions of dollars.
The co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates has a net worth of $149 billion. At the beginning of the year it was over $158 billion (-9,45 billion).
Oracle's co-founder and CTO also suffers significant losses Larry Ellison (-44,9 billion to 147 billion) and for the co-founder of Google Larry Page (-34,7 billion to 92,2 billion). Closing the top 10 of billionaires are the technology entrepreneur Steve Ballmer (-20,4 billion to 126 billion) and the other founder of Google Sergei Brin (-32,5 billion still at 126 billion).
Only Warren Buffett makes money
The tariff war started by Trump has helped empty the pockets of billions. All but one. Warren Buffett, which with a 154 billion in assets of dollars firmly occupies the fourth place of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Unlike his “super rich colleagues”, in 2025, the Oracle of Omaha saw grow his fortune by $11,5 billion.
But how did Buffett make money while everyone else was losing? By thinking long-term and playing ahead. In the second half of 2024, when markets were rallying, Berkshire Hathaway started selling, reaching sell 134 billion shares and accumulating a reserve liquidity record of 334 billion, about a third of assets of around 1.150 billion. Many at the time struggled to understand his strategy and criticized him harshly, also because Buffett decided to reduce his exposure to banks (like Bank of America) and Big Tech (Apple above all), which were grinding out increases at that time, increasing investments in Japanese companies instead. A strategy that, by virtue of what happened in recent weeks, has proven to be a winning one. After all, they don't call him the Oracle of Omaha for nothing.
