Tech tycoons lose billions in stock market fall

A drop in the value of US technology stocks has wiped billions of dollars off the net worth of some of the world’s richest people.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos stumbled in his sprint to become the planet’s wealthiest man when his company’s share price fell more than 3% on Friday, wiping $2.6bn (£2bn) off his net worth.

The Nasdaq stock market, where many tech stocks are listed, closed down 1.8% on Friday, with the tech sector declining 2.7% overall.

Bezos became number two in the rich stakes in March when his company announced plans to acquire Dubai based e-tailer Souq.

He has now dropped back to third, behind Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is top, and Zara fashion boss Amancio Ortega.

Shares in Facebook, Google’s parent company Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft were also trading down.

Mark Zuckerberg lost $2bn, while the net worth of Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin was down $1.32bn and $1.31bn respectively.

Gates is worth $89.2bn, Ortega $84.6bn, Bezos $83.9bn, Zuckerberg $64bn, Page $48.1bn and Brin $47bn.

Apple’s shares had sunk 4.7% as a result of news that its new iPhones could have slower speeds.

The drop came as investors paused after a period of enormous growth in the technology sector.

Analysts have said there has been nothing in the news which would explain the drop, but suggests it is a response to the success of technology shares in recent period.

Goldman Sachs warned the successes of the tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet, may be overextended.

“Tech stocks have done so well, have made such a big move, and people are asking ‘How much better can it get for them?'” said Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust.


( Agency Report)