The world’s wealthiest individuals faced staggering financial setbacks this week as Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy sent shockwaves through global markets, erasing billions from tech giants’ valuations and impacting trade dynamics.
Trump’s April 3 declaration of a universal 10% import duty, alongside targeted levies exceeding 50% for specific nations, triggered the most severe stock market collapse since the 2020 pandemic. Over two days, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each tumbled by more than 5%, wiping $1.8 trillion from the combined market value of America’s seven largest technology firms.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg—ranked as the planet’s three richest people—collectively lost over $80 billion in personal wealth during the rout, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Tesla, Amazon, and Meta bore the brunt of the sell-off, with their reliance on international supply chains exposing vulnerabilities. Musk’s electric vehicle firm, which recently reported a 13% year-on-year sales decline, faced compounded pressures from new tariffs on Chinese battery components and Taiwanese semiconductors. Amazon and Meta grappled with dual threats—rising hardware costs and potential advertising revenue declines as economic growth forecasts dimmed.
The tariffs specifically targeted electronics imports, which accounted for $486 billion in American purchases last year. Analysts warned of cascading effects, including a projected 40% price surge for iPhones due to Apple’s dependence on Chinese manufacturing. Semiconductor projects like the $500 billion Stargate initiative—a collaboration between OpenAI and Oracle—faced potential delays amid financing challenges and component shortages. European leaders retaliated by threatening countermeasures against U.S. tech firms, with France explicitly naming Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft as potential targets.
While the White House exempted Taiwanese semiconductors from the 32% tariff, the baseline 10% duty still threatened to disrupt supply chains. Corporate responses varied: Microsoft paused data centre expansions citing oversupply concerns, while smaller firms explored relocating production from China to nations like Vietnam—a process experts estimate could take three to five years. Lobbyists intensified efforts to leverage the tariffs against foreign regulations, particularly the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
Consumers braced for steep price hikes, with advocacy group Chamber of Progress warning that tariffs on tech components could inflate costs across everyday devices. Goldman Sachs revised its recession probability to 35% within the next year, while the S&P 500’s $5 trillion loss since the policy announcement underscored systemic risks.
The crisis prompted urgent talks between tech executives and White House advisers at Mar-a-Lago, where discussions focused on revamping global trade frameworks. As the administration linked tariff reductions to geopolitical concessions—including China’s approval of TikTok’s U.S. sale—industry leaders faced unprecedented challenges in balancing political pressures with supply chain realities.