World's richest people lose EUR 120 billion in one day due to coronavirus

The world’s 500 richest people lost a combined USD 139 billion (over EUR 120 billion) Monday as markets buckled amid fears that the coronavirus will hammer the global economy, Bloomberg reports.

It’s the biggest wealth drop for the group since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index began tracking that figure in October 2016.

Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury-goods maker LVMH, and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos led the declines, with each losing more than USD 4.8 billion.

Amancio Ortega, chief executive officer of Zara parent Inditex SA, tumbled USD 4 billion, whereas Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg lost as much as USD 3.48 billion.

The fortunes of everyone else in the top 10 slid by at least USD 2.3 billion.

China, where the virus originated, makes up 40% of the global market for luxury goods. The market declines hit the stocks of cruise-line operators particularly hard, Bloomberg adds.

ZARA

Facebook

LMVH

Amazon

coronavirus

richest people in the world

Bernard Arnault

Jeff Bezos

Amancio Ortega

Mark Zuckerberg

Bloomberg Billionaires Index

luxury goods

cruise lines