Corona hurts the income of top 100 Billionaires

According to a special report by Hurun released on Monday, the Covid-19 pandemic has effaced a combined US$ 408 billion from the world’s top 100 billionaires in a span of just 2 months (February & March). Only 9% of this conglomerate saw their wealth increase in the last two months, 86% saw their wealth decline, and 5% were unchanged. LVMH chief executive Bernard Arnault has suffered the biggest loss, US$30 billion, among them, because of the sharp devaluation of LVMH’s shares. 

A stronger dollar also contributed to the loss of billionaires’ wealth based outside the U.S. The British pound lost 6.3% against the U.S. dollar, the Indian rupee down 5.2%, the Chinese yuan down 2.3%, and the euro down 0.4%, according to the study.

Further, during these two months, the Covid-19 outbreak also swept through major stock markets. The Dow Jones was down 21%, while the markets in India, France, Germany, and the U.K. were down 25%. Notably, China was the only major market that was in the positive territory, up 0.2%.