Tech Founders Lost Nearly $9 Billion This Week As Big Tech Faces Increased Regulatory Scrutiny – Forbes

THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE WORLDS RICHEST

S

hares of big tech companies havebeen driving the surge in the stock marketduring the pandemic. But this week heavyweightsAmazon, Google and Facebook took a hit when faced with the prospect of increased regulatory scrutiny. Big tech stocksand their founders fortunesfell after two separate antitrust lawsuits were announced against Facebook this week.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Googles two cofoundersLarry Page and Sergey Brinare a combined $8.5 billion poorer in the week through Friday, December 11.

The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced that it would sue Facebook for illegal monopolization, calling for the company to unwind its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram. That same day, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a separate antitrust lawsuit against the social media giantjoined by 47 other state and regional attorneys generalon similar grounds. Facebooks stock dropped 3.5% since the lawsuits were announced.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 posted their first weekly declines in three weeks, falling 0.6% and 1%, respectively, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index dropped 0.7%. Shares of major tech companies, however, fell by more: For the week, Facebook was down 2.2%, Amazon lost 1.5% and Google-parent Alphabet declined 2.7%.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the worlds richest man, saw his fortune shrink $2.4 billion this week to $182.2 billion, Forbes calculates. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, was down$2.2 billion since last week; hes now worth $100.5 billion. Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin also took a hit, with their net worths dropping by $2 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively. Page is now worth $78.2 billion and Brin is worth $76 billion, according to Forbes.

Despite techs drop, the billionaire whose fortune fell the most in dollar terms over the past week was Spains Amancio Ortega, the worlds wealthiest clothing retailer. In 1975, he cofounded Inditex, known for its Zara fashion chain, shares of which dropped 3.7% this week. He now has a net worth of $74.4 billion$3.1 billion less than last week.

Other notable billionaires who saw their fortune take a hit this week include famed investor Warren Buffett and Sheldon Adelson, CEO and chairman of Las Vegas Sands. Shares of Buffetts investing conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, dropped 2% since last week, shaving $1.8 billion off of his net worth, which now sits at $85.5 billion. Adelson, meanwhile, saw his fortune drop by $1.5 billion, to $35.1 billion, after shares of Las Vegas Sands fell by 5.2% this week.

The net worth change is from close of markets Friday, December 4 to Friday, December 11.

Read the rest here:

Tech Founders Lost Nearly $9 Billion This Week As Big Tech Faces Increased Regulatory Scrutiny - Forbes