The world’s ultrarich are probably not the first financial victims your thoughts go out to as the coronavirus wreaks havoc on the global economy. People have lost jobs, or had wages docked, and gig-economy workers have realized just how vulnerable their digital-era income streams are.
But over the past two months, more than $400 billion has vanished from the pocketbooks of the world’s richest 100 billionaires. That means all their gains over the last 2½ years have evaporated during this crisis, according to a new report by wealth-list compiler Hurun Research.
Nearly all of the 100 tycoons lost money during this period, from Jan. 31 to March 31 — lots of money. Only nine didn’t — and, most striking, all nine are Chinese.
China’s mercurial stock markets help explain this group of outliers.
“China has been the relative winner, with its stock markets weathering the virus better than its U.S. and European counterparts,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher.
Hoogewerf is putting it mildly. Global bourses have plummeted over the past two months, with the Dow Jones DJIA, +7.73% tumbling 21%, European markets down by double-digit percentages, Japan down 18% and Hong Kong down 10%. The only major market that rose was China’s benchmark index, which ticked up 0.2%.
But it wasn’t just the bullish Chinese equities at play.
“Whilst the virus has created a surge in demand around the world for medical-equipment manufacturers, lockdown has created a boom in videoconferencing for businesses and distance learning for children, as well as, surprisingly, Chinese pork producers,” Hoogewerf said.
For instance, Eric Yuan Zheng, founder and CEO of videoconferencing platform Zoom Video Communications ZM, -4.10%, was the overall top gainer of the past two months, with his wealth rising 77%, or $3.5 billion, to $8 billion. This leap was due to the exponential adoption of Zoom technology for online conferences and educational courses during the crisis.
Yuan said last week that the number of daily users has leapt from 10 million at the end of December to more than 200 million last month.
However, Yuan’s good fortune may be short-lived. Last week, the company ignited an ongoing controversy over its privacy controls and its technical ability to handle surging user loads. The privacy concerns prompted New York City to ban use of Zoom for its more than 1 million students who have or will utilize remote learning tools during the city’s quarantine period.
Other logical gainers were the mother-and-son heads of Chinese test-prep platform Offcn, and Alex Xu Hang of ventilator and medical-device producer Mindray, which is still seeing increasing demand worldwide, the company said.
The more initially puzzling success story, however, was Chinese pork giant Muyuan Foods, whose husband-and-wife executives added $3 billion to their personal wealth over the past two months, adding to their combined $22 billion.
But the reason is simple. As China’s pork industry has been ravaged by African swine fever and production volumes have dwindled, prices have skyrocketed and enriched those who can retain healthy animals and keep even moderate-level output.
Despite China’s seemingly exceptional performance among its ultrawealthy, the Chinese founders of troubled Starbucks competitor Luckin Coffee LK, -18.40%, Charles Lu and Jenny Qian Zhiya, went from billionaires to mere millionaires in a matter of days last week after a fraud scandal at the Nasdaq-listed company caused its share price to drop nearly 90%.
See:Banks could lose over $100 million on loan made to chairman of China’s Luckin Coffee
The biggest loser of the crisis period has been Bernard Arnault, head of French luxury conglomerate LVMH LVMUY, +6.37%, whose wealth sank $30 billion — some $20 million per hour — according to Hurun. This is a dramatic reversal of fortunes for Arnault, whose booming 2019 made him second only to Jeff Bezos on the world’s-richest-people list.
Speaking of Bezos, the Amazon AMZN, +4.77% founder’s valuation declined a “mere” $9 billion to $131 billion, keeping him easily the wealthiest person on Earth.
The U.S. currently has 34 billionaires in Hurun’s top 100 list, compared with 29 from China.
Tanner Brown is a writer for MarketWatch and Barron’s and is producer of the Caixin-Sinica Business Brief podcast.
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