Democrats said Trump would enrich billionaires but that’s not actually the case.
This year, twelve of the world’s top 20 wealthiest individuals have seen their fortunes shrink significantly, with some losing tens of billions of dollars, as reported by Bloomberg.
As we look ahead to 2025, many had high hopes for a prosperous year, especially with Donald Trump’s return to the White House. His campaign promises to cut taxes, roll back regulations, and boost American businesses seemed poised to create an environment where billionaires could thrive. However, market instability, driven by new tariffs and growing fears of a U.S. recession, has created a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the U.S. economy.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the following individuals have experienced the greatest financial losses so far in 2025:
- Elon Musk (CEO of Tesla and SpaceX)
- Total net worth: $301 billion
- Loss in 2025: $132 billion
- Jeff Bezos (Founder of Amazon)
- Total net worth: $216 billion
- Loss in 2025: $22.5 billion
- Larry Ellison (Co-founder and CTO of Oracle)
- Total net worth: $169 billion
- Loss in 2025: $23.2 billion
- Jensen Huang (CEO of Nvidia)
- Total net worth: $94.0 billion
- Loss in 2025: $20.3 billion
- Michael Dell (CEO of Dell Technologies)
- Total net worth: $104 billion
- Loss in 2025: $20.1 billion
- Larry Page (Co-founder of Google)
- Total net worth: $150 billion
- Loss in 2025: $17.8 billion
- Changpeng Zhao (Co-founder of Binance)
- Total net worth: $35.6 billion
- Loss in 2025: $17.7 billion
- Sergey Brin (Co-founder of Google)
- Total net worth: $142 billion
- Loss in 2025: $16.6 billion
- Mike Sabel (Co-founder of Venture Global LNG)
- Total net worth: $8.9 billion
- Loss in 2025: $15.8 billion
- Bob Pender (Co-founder of Venture Global LNG)
- Total net worth: $8.9 billion
- Loss in 2025: $15.8 billion
Notably, three of these billionaires—Musk, Bezos, and Brin—were present at Trump’s inauguration in January, reflecting their support for his leadership. Since Trump returned to office, a group of influential figures—including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and luxury mogul Bernard Arnault—have collectively lost over $200 billion, according to Bloomberg.
In his recent address to Congress, Trump reassured Americans that the tariffs were part of a strategy to make America wealthy again. He acknowledged the short-term disruptions but remained confident that the long-term results would benefit the nation.
On Fox News, Trump also downplayed the concerns surrounding a potential recession, explaining that his policies were aimed at a massive transition. “I hate to predict things like that,” he said, “but what we’re doing is very big.”
In response to the massive losses experienced by Tesla, Elon Musk took a lighthearted approach, quoting Monty Python: “But look on the bright side! Always look on the bright side of life.”
Despite the losses among top billionaires, it’s clear that uncertainty still looms large. Some economists warn that the U.S. economy could slip into a recession before the year is out, but Trump’s economic vision continues to promise growth and prosperity in the long run.