Twenty-four billionaires saw their wealth fall by more than ten figures on Monday, including Bill Gates who dropped $3.2 billion and Jeff Bezos, who fell $2.6 billion, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Another $124 billion was wiped off the collective fortunes of the world’s 400 richest people today as the global selloff pushed the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index into its first correction in nearly four years.
Twenty-four billionaires saw their wealth fall by more than ten figures on Monday, including Bill Gates who dropped $3.2 billion and Jeff Bezos, who fell $2.6 billion, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Mexico’s Carlos Slim lost $1.6 billion as his fortune fell to its lowest level since the Index began in 2012.
Sliding markets worldwide have resulted in Chinese shares sinking the most since 2007, Germany’s DAX falling into a bear market, and commodities reaching a 16-year low, as Brent crude plunged below $45 a barrel.
Last week’s declines had already seen the world’s 400 richest people lose $182 billion. A decline of $76 billion on Friday had put their fortunes into the red for the year-to-date.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index takes measure of the world’s wealthiest people based on market and economic changes and Bloomberg News reporting. Each net-worth figure is updated every business day at 5:30 p.m. in New York and listed in U.S. dollars.
Meanwhile, the 10 highest-paid U.S. executives have seen a combined $188 million decline in the value of their compensation during the past week after a rout in global equities dented stock-based awards.
Equity granted to executives as part of their 2014 pay slumped in the past week after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plummeted almost 10 percent. The Bloomberg Pay Index, a ranking of the 200 highest-paid U.S. executives, tracks the current value of an executive’s most-recent awarded compensation package. Awarded pay includes salary, cash bonuses and stock awards received during the fiscal year.
No executive lost more than Nick Woodman. The GoPro Inc. founder and chief executive officer, who is No. 1 on the index, was granted pay in 2014 that lost $48.1 million in the rout. Anthony Bates, president of the San Mateo, California-based camera-maker and No. 3 on the index, saw his compensation decline $25.3 million. Michael Fries, the CEO of Liberty Global Plc, lost $16.1 million. He’s No. 2 in the ranking.
Three of the 10 highest-paid executives, including Woodman, are billionaires who have substantial fortunes tied to their companies beyond what they were paid last year. Woodman’s net worth had declined $402 million to $2.1 billion through Monday, compared to Aug. 17. Tesla Motors Inc. founder Elon Musk’s fortune fell $1.4 billion to $11.5 billion and Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison lost $3.8 billion of his net worth, which declined to $39.9 billion during the period, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Awarded pay tracks what a compensation committee intended to pay an executive, not what was reported in a company’s summary compensation table. It also accounts for changes in the value of pensions, and includes perks such as club dues and personal use of corporate jets. Awarded pay on the Bloomberg Pay Index is priced as of a company’s fiscal year-end and is updated daily as of a company’s most-recent closing price.