It is arguably the most elite club in the world.
One of those clubs whose entrance looks like the labors of Hercules.
Very, very few managed to get in. It is rare to find more than two members at the same time. At the beginning of the year, only one person was in the club. That person is Elon Musk, the visionary and whimsical CEO of Tesla (TSLA), SpaceX, Twitter (TWTR), and two other companies.
This particular club is for billionaires whose fortune reaches at least $200 billion. Until a few days ago, Musk was the only member of this prestigious club but much criticized by liberals who see it as the symbol of the continuous widening of the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Musk's fortune has shrunk by $80.4 billion since January and stands at $190.0 billion as of Nov. 5, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. However, he remains the richest man in the world.
Musk owes his immense fortune to his Tesla shares. The evolution of the price of Tesla shares thus has an impact on the evolution of the billionaire's fortune. If the electric vehicle maker's stock goes down, it negatively impacts Musk's net wealth on paper.
The Top 10 Impacted by Tech Woes
Since January, Tesla has seen its market value melt by more than $450 billion, certainly affected by the zero-covid policy in China, the continuous disruptions to supply chains and the soaring prices of raw materials. But the company is also impacted by concerns surrounding the entire tech sector as the economic slowdown could turn into a recession.
This macroeconomic environment has important consequences in the ranking of the world's largest fortunes since the Top 10 is dominated by Silicon Valley tycoons.
The French businessman Bernard Arnault is the second richest man in the world but the fortune of the CEO of the luxury company LVMH (LVMHF) has decreased by $34.4 billion to $144 billion since January.
Indian businessman Gautam Adani is the third richest man on the planet with a fortune estimated at $133 billion. Adani, who is the head of an industrial conglomerate, is the only personality in the Top 10 to have seen his fortune increase since January. It's up $56.2 billion.
Jeff Bezos is fourth with a fortune valued at $114 billion. The fall of the Amazon founder is the consequence of the sharp drop in the market value of the e-commerce giant, which has been ejected from the club of companies with a market value of more than $1 trillion. Amazon (AMZN) warned that the next few months were going to be very difficult.
Bezos has lost $78.4 billion since January.
Zuckerberg, the Big Loser
Bill Gates, co-founder of software giant Microsoft (MSFT) is the fifth richest man in the world with an estimated fortune of $107 billion, down $31.4 billion since January.
Legendary investor Warren Buffet comes in sixth, as he is worth $100 billion. Buffett, often hailed for his sound investments, has seen his fortune melt by $8.64 billion since January.
There are no other billionaires above $100 billion. The other four members of the Top 10 have wealth ranging from $90 billion to $80 billion.
Larry Ellison is ranked seventh with a fortune estimated at $90.9 billion. The co-founder of Oracle (ORCL) lost $16.3 billion this year.
Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani is eighth with an estimated wealth of $89 billion, down $986 million in 2022.
Larry Page, co-founder of Alphabet (GOOGL), parent company of Google, is ninth with a net wealth of $81.4 billion, down $47 billion since January. The internet juggernaut recently warned that tough times are ahead.
Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, is 10th with a fortune valued at $79.7 billion. His net wealth has decreased by $26 billion since January.
It is important to note the downfall of Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of the social media empire Meta Platforms (META) whose disputed bets on the metaverse contributed to the stock market plunge of the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Zuckerberg is only the 29th richest person in the world with a fortune valued at $35.2 billion, down $90.3 billion since January.
