Musk, Bezos, Gates lose billions in net worth in tech downturn
The tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 4% on Monday
Three big-name tech billionaires have been hit with sizable blows to their net worth as the technology sector has soured in recent days.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 4% on Monday, making the total decline approximately 10% since the Federal Reserve announced continued hikes of half percentage points on interest rates.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are often ranked as the three most wealthy private individuals in the world – and all three have been hurt by recent market developments.
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Musk lost approximately $12.8 billion Monday, according to the Dow Jones Market Data Group. Bezos' net worth fell $5.97 billion, and Gates lost $1.05 billion.
Bill Gates attends the United Nations' climate summit on Nov. 2, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell - Pool/Getty Images / Getty Images)
U.S. stocks plummeted to lows not seen in over a year on Monday, a downward continuation of selling, as investors grow more worried about inflation and a recession despite promises by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who sympathized with the American public grappling with sky-high gas and food prices.
Consumer price data for April, due Wednesday, is expected to remain elevated around 8.1%, according to estimates tracked by Trading Economics. That's just below the 8.5% mark, a 40-year high, reached in March.
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Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, stands at a press event on the grounds of the Tesla Gigafactory. (Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"The simple fact of the matter is both fiscal and monetary policy blew it," William A. Galston, Ezra K. Zilkha chair and senior fellow of governance studies at The Brookings Institution, told FOX Business. "If there had been an accurate assessment of say the last six months of the Trump administration as to how much stimulus had already been poured into the economy and what its consequences could be," inflation may not have spiked to 40-year highs, he explained. "This has not been a terrific 12 months for the Federal Reserve."
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez attend the Robin Hood Benefit 2022 at Jacob Javits Center on May 9, 2022, in New York City. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Robin Hood / Getty Images)
Morgan Stanley’s team of strategists, helmed by Seth Carpenter, warned Monday that the ingredients for a global recession are "on the table."
FOX Business' Suzanne O'Halloran contributed to this report.