- Tech CEOs who rallied around Donald Trump during his January inauguration are feeling the pain of some of his recent policies. Tech leaders, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have seen their wealth plummet as tech companies’ stock prices slide.
Billionaire backers of President Donald Trump are watching their fortunes tumble as tariffs take a toll on Big Tech.
The president’s sweeping global tariffs announced last week on April 2 ‘Liberation Day’ have sent shockwaves through the stock market and wiped billions off the personal fortunes of some of America’s richest men.
Prominent Trump cheerleader Elon Musk has suffered the biggest wealth drop over the president’s first few months in office.
The Tesla CEO’s wealth peaked in mid-December at $486 billion in the wake of Trump’s election; however, by the president’s self-professed “Liberation Day”, Musk had already seen his wealth plummet by $163 billion.
The tariffs brought even more pain to Tesla and its embattled CEO, with Musk’s personal fortune dropping to $290 billion on April 8, the lowest it has reached in 2025, according to Bloomberg’s billionaires index.
The second-richest man, Jeff Bezos, has also seen his wealth tumble.
The Amazon founder’s wealth hit a peak of $260 billion in February but had fallen to $213 billion by April 2, per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
In the wake of the tariffs, his wealth fell by a further $21 billion to a total of $192 billion. To date, Amazon’s stock price has slid around 30% from its peak in early February.
Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg has similarly been in the red this week.
The tech boss saw his personal wealth peak in mid-February at $259 billion; by April 8, this figure had fallen by more than a quarter to $181 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Index.
Much of Zuckerberg’s wealth is tied to Meta stock, which has also declined 30% from its February peak.
Musk, Zuckerberg, and Bezos have now collectively lost $80 billion of their wealth since April 2, per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
How much did Big Tech contribute to Trump?
All three have contributed significant funds to Trump.
According to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission filings, Musk’s total contribution to Trump’s 2024 election campaign totaled $288 million, making him the country’s largest political donor.
Zuckerberg and Bezos each donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund through Meta and Amazon, respectively.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also made a $1 million donation to the U.S. president’s inauguration that has yet to pay off.
Apple is the most vulnerable of the major tech companies to Trump’s tariffs as the bulk of the company’s manufacturing is conducted outside the U.S.
Despite Apple’s years-long effort to diversify its supply chain away from China, the company was hit hard by the steep tariffs on Vietnam, which has become a key manufacturing hub for the tech giant.
Apple’s share price has also slipped around 30% since late February.
CEOs at Google and Microsoft matched their fellow tech giant’s $1 million donations to Trump’s inauguration fund.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was also front and center at the event alongside Bezos, Zuckerberg, and Musk.
However, this has done little to protect Google from the president’s controversial policies, with shares of Google’s parent company Alphabet down just shy of 30% from the company’s early February peak.
Microsoft’s stock price has slid by around 7% in the week since tariffs were announced.
Representatives for Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune.
