Economic woes are affecting the highest echelons of wealth.

According to recent statistics released by Forbes, the world’s wealthiest individuals have become substantially less wealthy over the course of 2022. Factoring in the combined losses of every billionaire in the world, they experienced a collective loss of approximately $2 trillion USD this year, with United States-based billionaires in particular losing the most of any country at $660 billion of losses.

It’s been a bad year to be a billionaire–and not just for those who blew up their businesses or got themselves arrested. https://t.co/2V8AdVT3X1 pic.twitter.com/VOTmjj7Qyb

— Forbes (@Forbes) December 26, 2022

Most of the top billionaires of the United States, including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Phil Knight, and Leonard Lauder saw losses of at least $10 billion each, with the top two, Bezos and Zuckerberg, collectively losing about $160 billion. Out of all of them, however, the one who incurred the most losses in America’s current richest man, Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

Globally, the world's billionaires lost nearly $2 trillion, combined, in 2022, according to Forbes. https://t.co/g1n3mjpR7C

— NBC10 Boston (@NBC10Boston) December 28, 2022

Due to a variety of factors, including Tesla stock sell-offs and the major cash injection required to purchase Twitter in its entirety, Musk lost approximately $115 billion in his net worth over the course of the year. Musk’s current net worth is about $139 billion; while he is still the wealthiest man in America, he has long since lost his position as the wealthiest man in the world.

Milo M. December 28, 2022

World’s Billionaires Lost $2 Trillion in 2022

Economic woes are affecting the highest echelons of wealth.