KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 1): The five richest individuals on the planet lost a collective US$108.9 billion in the first month of January 2022.  

In January, billionaires lost substantially, as everything from e-commerce to cryptocurrencies to online gaming tumbled.

The first month of 2022 has been threat-laden and unpredictable, as investors weighed what Federal Reserve had in mind for rate hikes amid high inflation, the pandemic, rising geopolitical tensions and the persistent fallout from a global supply chain in distress.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Tesla co-founder and self-proclaimed “Technoking of Tesla” Elon Musk maintained his top spot with a total net worth of US$220 billion, despite losing US$50 billion.

In the second spot is the world’s former richest man, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, with a wealth of US$169 billion, losing US$23.4 billion over the month.

Bezos stepped down from his role as the chief executive officer of Amazon in July, and said he is spending more time on initiatives like the Bezos Earth Fund — his Blue Origin spaceship company, The Washington Post and the Bezos Day One Fund.

As for the only two Malaysians listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Robert Kuok and Tan Sri Dr Teh Hong Piow lost a combined wealth of US$68.88 million in January.

Kuok ranks 102 on the list with a fortune of US$18.2 billion after shedding US$60.6 million year-to-date, while Teh ranks 347 on the list with a wealth of US$7.23 billion, having dropped US$8.38 million over the month.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.

The figures are updated at the close of every trading day in New York.