Musk and Billionaires Face $250 Billion Wealth Drop Amid Trump’s Trade Policies

 The collective wealth of the world’s richest billionaires, including Elon Musk, declined by approximately $250 billion in the first 100 days of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, ending April 29, 2025, driven by market turmoil from his aggressive trade tariffs, according to Forbes and Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, per The New York Times. 

Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, saw his net worth fall from $400 billion to $350 billion, a 12.5% drop, due to Tesla’s stock plummeting 15% amid 145% tariffs on Chinese imports, per AP News. Other billionaires, like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, also faced losses as U.S. markets reacted to trade disruptions.

Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 145% on China, effective March 4, triggered retaliatory levies, raising consumer prices and unsettling Wall Street, per The Guardian. The S&P 500 dropped 8% since January 20, with tech and auto sectors hit hardest, per Bloomberg. Tesla, reliant on Chinese components, faced supply chain issues, while Amazon’s logistics costs rose, shaving $30 billion off Bezos’s wealth, per The New York Times. The tariffs, aimed at curbing immigration and drug trafficking, have fueled inflation fears, with consumer prices up 3.4% in Q1, per U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Musk’s role in Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), recovering $1.9 billion in misallocated funds, has not shielded his businesses, per The Times of India. SpaceX’s Pentagon contracts, worth $10 billion annually, face scrutiny over Musk’s access to sensitive briefings, raising conflict-of-interest concerns, per The New York Times. Trump’s denial of a planned Pentagon briefing on China war plans, citing Musk’s Tesla operations in Shanghai, underscores these tensions, per The Guardian. The broader billionaire class, including Larry Ellison and Bernard Arnault, lost 5-10% of their wealth as global markets adjusted, per Forbes.

The wealth decline reflects broader economic challenges, with job openings falling to 7.192 million in March, per Reuters. Analysts warn of a potential recession if trade wars persist, with Goldman Sachs projecting a 2.5% GDP growth cut by 2026, per The New York Times. Trump’s Michigan rally on April 29 highlighted tariff relief for automakers, but billionaires remain wary, with some relocating assets to Europe, per Bloomberg. The volatility underscores the high stakes of Trump’s economic gamble, impacting even his closest allies like Musk.