The richest person in the world lost $108 billion in a tech selloff headed by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, with Jensen Huang of Nvidia losing $20.1 billion. Even if they suffered losses, certain people, like Bezos and Zuckerberg, witnessed a sharp increase in wealth during the AI boom.
The wealth of the 500 richest people in the world, headlined by Jensen Huang, a co-founder of Nvidia Corp., was reduced by a total of $108 billion due to a tech selloff fueled by Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.The worst losers, according to Bloomberg data, were billionaires whose fortunes were connected to artificial intelligence. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Hunag's wealth fell by 20%, or $20.1 billion, whereas Larry Ellison, a co-founder of Oracle Corp., suffered a bigger loss of $22.6 billion, which was just 12% of his total wealth.
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, a co-founder of Binance, lost $12.1 billion, and Michael Dell, the founder of Dell Inc., lost $13 billion.
With US tech stocks plummeting due to concerns that Chinese AI company DeepSeek might challenge America's hegemony in the industry, billionaires in the tech sector saw their wealth erode by $94 billion, or over 85% of the Bloomberg index's overall fall.
On Monday, the S&P 500 sank 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 3.1%.
Although Hangzhou-based DeepSeek has been creating AI models since 2023, many Western investors were first aware of the company this past weekend when its free DeepSeek R1 chatbot app topped global download charts, according to Bloomberg.
According to reports, DeepSeek only cost $5.6 million to construct, refuting the claims made by many Silicon Valley-based businesses that the strongest models require significant financial expenditures.
Comparable Playbook
Businesses like Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet (Google) have profited greatly from the development of AI since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in November 2022. These businesses have invested a lot of money in developing and maintaining AI systems.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, the business will invest a lot more than anticipated this year—between $60 billion and $65 billion—on AI initiatives. According to a Bloomberg article, large IT businesses are expected to invest $200 billion on capital projects by 2025.
The stock market has increased the worth of US tech companies, despite the fact that these companies haven't yet benefited significantly from AI. Their owners have become extremely wealthy as a result. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, has seen his fortune increase by nearly eight times, to $121 billion. Zuckerberg now owns $229 billion, a 385% rise in fortune. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' wealth increased by 133% to $254 billion.
Zuckerberg and Bezos saw their fortune increase, but other tech billionaires, like Huang and Larry Ellison, had their wealth decline. Bezos made roughly $632 million, while Zuckerberg earned $4.3 billion.
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