It’s no surprise that the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted the economy greatly, even in Singapore.
Multiple companies are announcing pay cuts, while even restaurants are asking for lower rentals as they anticipate a whopping 80% drop in revenue.
Unfortunately, even billionaires are being hit hard:
COVID-19 Caused Rich Men to Lose Money; Jeff Bezos Lost USD$14.1 Billion While Mark Zuckerberg Lost USD$8.5 Billion
The world’s wealthiest are not immune to the threat of COVID-19 outbreak.
It is the market’s worst week and 10 billionaires have lost a total of about USD$83.4 billion while dozens of others have lost hundreds of millions.
To let you grasp just how serious the situation is, there are approximately 84,000 confirmed cases and 2,900 deaths worldwide from the COVID-19.
The result is investors who are becoming more and more worried about the impact on global economies, which has resulted in mass sell-off of stocks around the world.
For instance, the Shanghai Composite and Euro Stoxx 50 has fallen 5.2% and 12.4% respectively.
Over in the United States, the Dow Jones fell sharply by 3,500 points or 12.4% since last Friday which is the biggest one-week sell-off since the financial crisis back in 2008.
The World’s Wealthiest Person Jeff Bezos Lost $14.1 Billion In Past Week
The world’s richest person aka Jeff Bezos lost a whopping $14.1 billion in the past week. His current net worth is at $113.6 billion.
While Tesla’s Elon Musk lost $8.9 billion and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg lost $8.5 billion.
These are seriously big numbers that a layperson probably would not even be able to make in a lifetime. Or ten lifetimes.
The gravity of the situation is amplified by the fact that within the span of one week, one of the world’s most stable and rising stocks plummeted.
Microsoft’s market capitalization dropped by $53 billion after the software company warned investors that its first-quarter sales for 2020 wouldn’t meet guidance due to the COVID-19 impacting its PC suppliers and manufacturers in China.
We truly hope that the COVID-19 outbreak will be contained asap.
In the meantime, do remember to practice good personal hygiene and to see a medical professional if you are unwell.
And maybe use more Amazon and Facebook, so that these billionaires wouldn’t lose more money.
