The world’s richest man, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, have lost $3.4 billion to the decision of the UK voters to leave the European Union.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires ranking, both men were the worst-hit billionaires in the United States, losing $1.8 billion and $1.6 billion respectively.
In context, the amount lost by Gates is more than the entire wealth of Nigeria’s richest woman, Folorunsho Alakija, who – according to Forbes – is worth $1.73 billion.
Global markets erased another $69.2 billion from the combined net worth of the world’s 400 richest people on the first trading day of the week after the Brexit vote, bringing total loss to $196.2 billion in 48 hours.
The pain on Monday was felt most by Europe’s wealthiest, as 92 billionaires lost $29.4 billion, bringing their two-day decline to $81.7 billion.
These 150 billionaires from the US and Canada lost $26.7 billion on Monday, and recorded a two-day total of $62.5 billion.
China’s 26 billionaires lost $1 billion Monday, bringing their two-day total loss to $5 billion, with a 7.4 percent ($18.7 billion) decline in 2016.
Georg Schaeffler, Germany’s third-richest person, fared the worst on the index Monday with $1.9 billion trimmed from his net worth.
Amancio Ortega, a Spanish retailer, who is Europe’s richest person, lost $1.5 billion.
While others lost, there were 69 billionaires on the index who added to their fortunes after the Brexit vote.
Takemitsu Takizaki, founder of Osaka-based Keyence, a maker of electronic sensors, led the gainers with an increase of $579.3 million.
Tadashi Yanai, Japanese retailer and chairman of Tokyo-based Fast Retailing Co., was behind him with a $552 million rise. Nineteen billionaires on the index added more than $100 million Monday.
