In September, when Tesla founder, Elon Musk overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest man in the world, he jokingly said he was going to send a giant statue of number 2 to Jeff Bezos. Eight months later, none of the two men are in any jovial mood to consider such kinds of jokes all thanks to the U.S. stock market.

Huge chunks of the two company’s public values have been taken out resulting in a share price dip that has seen billionaires around the world lose billions of dollars. Inflation’s rising rates are the reason stock markets are facing some of the worst years in history.

NASDAQ ended its worst month (April) since October 2008 this year. The S & P also just posted its seventh straight week of losses which is also its longest negative streak since March 2001.

The fortunes of the richest people in the world have also shriveled astronomically by the tune of almost half a trillion dollars according to Forbes. This is an astounding drop from a combined $2.9 Trillion as of the close of Friday.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have lost the most amount of their net worth in the past half-year. Economic estimates say that both of the two richest men in the world have lost $123.6 billion between December 31, 2021, and May 20, 2022.

Musk briefly became the first person to have a net worth of $300 Billion or more after Tesla’s market capitulation rose above $1 Trillion twice in November and January. However, forces beyond his control have vastly decimated a huge chunk of those numbers as he is down to $113 Billion from his all-time net high on November 4 and $64 Billion since the end of the year 2021.

Bezos is also $59.9 Billion poorer than he was on December 31, 2021. Amazon shares have tanked by a steep 35% in that timeframe and this has severely taken a huge chunk out of his net worth. However, what the market has not claimed from the two biggest billionaires ever on earth is still worth over a whopping $250 Billion. That is still a lot of money!

Featured image source: Business Insider.