Nearly half of all billionaires are poorer than they were a year ago, data shows

It was a down year for many of the planet’s 2,640 billionaires–including those at the very top of the top. The 25 richest people in the world are worth a collective $2.1 trillion, according to Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, released Tuesday–down a combined $200 billion from $2.3 trillion in 2022.
Two-thirds of the top 25 are poorer than they were last year, compared to around half of the list overall. No one lost more than Jeff Bezos as Amazon shares crashed by 38%. The drop lopped $57 billion from Bezos’ fortune and knocked him from No. 2 in the world in 2022 to No. 3 this year. This year’s second-biggest loser, Elon Musk, had it worse. He lost his title of world’s richest person after his pricey purchase of Twitter, which he funded in part by the sale of Tesla shares, helping to spook investors. Musk, who is worth $39 billion less than a year ago, is now No. 2.
Two people lost their spot among the top 25. Zhang Yiming, who founded Tik Tok-parent Bytedance, dropped one place, from No. 25 to No. 26, as his embattled company has taken a haircut from investors. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, fell from No. 19 last year all the way to No. 167 amid the crypto winter.