While it hasn’t exactly left them bereft, the “Leave” vote in Thursday’s Brexit referendum has taken a bite out of the bank accounts of the world’s plutocrats.
In the two completed trading days since British voters made the shock decision to leave the EU, the world’s 400 richest people have seen their combined net worth plunge by $196.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Europe’s uber-wealthy were the hardest hit, with the area’s 92 billionaires dropping a combined total of just under $82 billion, Bloomberg reports. The richest person on the continent—fast fashion guru Amancio Ortega, founder of Zara-owner Inditex—lost $7.5 billion over the two trading days.
In North America, where the 150 billionaires in the U.S. and Canada have lost $62.5 billion since Brexit, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates were especially hard hit. The Facebook (FB) co-founder saw his net worth drop about $2.6 billion, while the Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder-turned-philanthropist lost $4.2 billion. The Billionaires Index offers no word on the recent fate of George Soros, who was long on the British pound despite warning that the currency would plunge if Britain voted for Brexit.
How George Soros Lost Money In a Bad Brexit Bet
The 26 billionaires in China lost $5 billion over the two trading days.
Not everyone took a hit, of course. Japan’s richest man, Tadashi Yanai—who founded Japan’s Fast Retailing (FRCOY), the owner of Uniqlo—saw a $552 million jump on Monday. He was one of 19 billionaires who took in over $100 million on Monday, according to Bloomberg.
