FOR the world’s richest people, there used to be three ways to quickly see a fortune disappear: Death, default or divorce.

       The past few months have added another risk: Sky-high valuations of giant technology companies falling from the stratosphere.

       Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth plummeted as much as US$31bil (RM129bil) on Thursday, the third-biggest one-day drop in wealth since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index began compiling data in 2012.

       Over at Spotify Inc, CEO Daniel Ek’s net worth has fallen by US$1.1bil (RM4.60bil) so far in 2022, to US$2.7bil (RM11.28bil).

       An 11-digit move in wealth had previously been reserved for monumental events in the lives of billionaires.

       Now it’s becoming almost routine, especially with the volatile swings in Elon Musk’s fortune.

       The world’s richest person lost US$35bil (RM146bil) in a day in November as Tesla Inc shares fell following a Twitter poll.

       It’s another indication of the unpredictable ways in which the US rebound from the pandemic will ripple across markets. — Bloomberg