The Billionaire's Dilemma: Navigating Financial Turbulence In 2021
If you were a billionaire in 2021, you kind of had to work hard to lose money last year. The S&P 500 gained 27% in 2021. So, if you had a net worth of $10 billion at the start of 2021 and you simply bought an S&P tracking fund, today you’d have a net worth of $13 billion.
Tesla stock increased 50%. So had you invested 100% of your fortune in Tesla, today you’d have $15 billion. Bitcoin gained 73% in 2021. Ethereum gained 455%. Something called Binance gained 1,344%. Dogecoin gained nearly 1,600%!
Assuming my January 1st hungover math is correct, had you invested 100% of your $10 billion fortune into Dogecoin at the beginning of 2021, today you’d be worth $160 billion. Enough to make you the fifth richest person in the world today. Any billionaire worth his half his salt should have been able to throw a dart at some investments at the start of 2021 and be sitting on a higher net worth today.
Financial Impact on Chinese Billionaires
For a variety of reasons, 2021 was an especially rough year for a bunch of Chinese tycoons. The Chinese government basically declared war on billionaires and celebrities that it considered bad role models or somehow not in line with party politics and power.
Out of the 80 known billionaires from China, half saw their net worths drop in 2021. By comparison, every single billionaire in Italy, Ireland, Israel, Indonesia, Malaysia, Norway, South Africa, and Spain saw their net worths increase last year. In the United States, India, France, and Germany, approximately 10-20% of billionaires saw net worth losses.
Notable Losses Among Billionaires
The biggest billionaire loser of the year was Colin Huang, the founder of Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo. Huang’s net worth dropped a staggering $42 billion in 2021. By comparison, the biggest American billionaire loser of 2021 was Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, whose net worth dropped $7 billion as Zoom’s share price fell around 50%.
Here are the 10 Biggest Billionaire Losers of 2021:
#10: Ma Huateng
Country: China
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $56.5 billion
Net worth today: $47 billion
Loss: $9.5 billion
Ma Huateng, aka "Pony Ma," is the founder and CEO of Tencent, one of China's largest technology conglomerates and the world's largest gaming company. Tencent's stock price dropped 20% in 2021 as gaming revenue slowed down in reaction to government crackdowns on the education and entertainment sectors.
#9: Gina Rinehart
Country: Australia
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $28 billion
Net worth today: $18 billion
Loss: $10 billion
#8: Jack Ma
Country: China
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $50 billion
Net worth today: $38 billion
Loss: $12 billion
Jack Ma was probably the most high-profile target of China's billionaire crackdown. His company Alibaba saw its stock price drop in half in 2021 after revenue began to dry up in its major business units. Alibaba and Ma both also suffered when China scuttled the planned IPO of the hotly-anticipated mobile payment spinoff Alipay.
#7: Goh Cheng Liang
Country: Singapore
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $27.5 billion
Net worth today: $15 billion
Loss: $13.5 billion
#6: Lei Jun
Country: China
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $31.5 billion
Net worth today: $17 billion
Loss: $14.5 billion
Lei Jun is the founder of electronics company Xiaomi. In January 2021, the United States government released a report which alleged that Xiaomi was "owned or controlled" by the People’s Liberation Army, temporarily banning American individuals or companies from investing in the company.
#5: Jim Ratcliffe
Country: China
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $27.5 billion
Net worth today: $12.5 billion
Loss: $15 billion
#4: Tadashi Yanai
Country: Japan
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $45.5 billion
Net worth today: $30 billion
Loss: $15.5 billion
#3: Hui Ka Yan
Country: China
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $23.5 billion
Net worth today: $6.5 billion
Loss: $17 billion
#2: Jay Y. Lee
Country: Korea
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $28 billion
Net worth today: $8.4 billion
Loss: $19.6 billion
#1: Colin Huang
Country: China
Net worth at the beginning of 2021: $63 billion
Net worth today: $21 billion
Loss: $42 billion
Colin Huang is the founder of e-commerce company Pinduoduo. After reporting slower-than-expected revenue and user growth numbers in the third quarter, Pinduoduo's share price dropped in half. In the fallout, $42 billion was wiped from Colin's net worth, marking the largest drop of any billionaire in the world last year.
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