Market Rout Lops $71 Billion From Fortunes of World's Wealthiest

(Bloomberg) -- The fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people tumbled $71 billion on Thursday as markets plunged on heightened prospects for a trade war.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett led with a $3.02 billion decline, followed by $3.01 billion for Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos. Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Ma Huateng lost $2.16 billion, the most among Asia’s richest.

Just 52 of the world’s 500 richest people added to their net worth on the day, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank more than 700 points, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The S&P 500 Index fell 2.5 percent, the most in six weeks.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Metcalf in New York at tmetcalf7@bloomberg.net, Jack Witzig in Princeton at jwitzig@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum

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