A recent tech selloff linked to the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has led to a significant drop in the wealth of the world’s richest individuals. The total loss is around $108 billion, with Nvidia’s co-founder, Jensen Huang, experiencing the biggest hit.
Data from Bloomberg reveals that many billionaires tied to AI saw their fortunes plummet. Huang’s wealth fell by 20%, equivalent to $20.1 billion. Oracle’s co-founder, Larry Ellison, lost $22.6 billion, which is notable but only represents a 12% decline in his total wealth.
Other tech leaders also faced losses. Michael Dell, founder of Dell Inc., saw his wealth decrease by $13 billion, while Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao lost $12.1 billion.
In total, the tech sector lost about $94 billion, accounting for nearly 85% of the overall drop tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This decline comes amid fears that DeepSeek could challenge U.S. dominance in the AI arena.
The market responded sharply, with the Nasdaq Composite falling by 3.1% and the S&P 500 dropping 1.5% on Monday.
DeepSeek has been working on AI models since 2023, but it gained international attention when its free DeepSeek R1 chatbot app became a top download worldwide. Interestingly, the app was developed for just $5.6 million, raising questions about the massive investments typically required by Silicon Valley firms to create advanced AI systems.
Since the launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI in November 2022, tech giants like Meta, Google, and Microsoft have poured billions into AI development. For instance, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently announced plans to spend $60 to $65 billion on AI projects this year alone. In total, leading tech companies are expected to invest around $200 billion in capital projects by 2025.
Despite the losses, some tech tycoons have seen their fortunes grow dramatically. Huang’s wealth skyrocketed to $121 billion, an increase of nearly eight times. Similarly, Zuckerberg’s wealth jumped by 385% to $229 billion, while Amazon’s Jeff Bezos saw a 133% increase, reaching $254 billion.
While Huang and Ellison faced financial setbacks, others like Zuckerberg and Bezos managed to gain wealth during this period. For example, Zuckerberg recently added $4.3 billion to his net worth, and Bezos gained around $632 million.
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DeepSeek, AI, Tech sellof, US tech stocks selloff, US tech stocks fall, Nvidia stock price crash, artifical intelligence, US stock market crash, Nasdaq
