The fortunes of some of the world’s wealthiest technology executives have seen a substantial reversal since the beginning of the year, with billions erased from their net worths amidst a broader market selloff. While artificial intelligence has been lauded as a transformative industry, concerns over valuations and a potential AI bubble have led to significant financial adjustments for founders who built their empires on technological innovation. Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has experienced the most pronounced impact, shedding an astonishing $59.2 billion since January, with $19 billion of that disappearing in just a few days following a recent market downturn.
This financial recalibration is not isolated to Ellison. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has seen his wealth diminish by $14 billion over the same period. The broader trend reflects a significant shift in investor sentiment, particularly after a Tuesday selloff that saw the S&P 500 software and services index decline by nearly 4%. This single event contributed to an estimated $62 billion being wiped from the net worth of the industry’s richest entrepreneurs so far this year, according to analyses of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The consequences have rippled across various segments of the tech sector. Even NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, whose company has been at the forefront of AI advancements, has not been immune, losing $7 billion this week and nearly $12 billion year-to-date. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, while experiencing a more modest $5 billion hit this week compared to some peers, has seen his overall net worth dip by almost $29 billion since the year began. These figures underscore a period of volatility following years of unprecedented growth in tech valuations.
Perhaps most acutely affected in relative terms were the founders of the advertising platform AppLovin. CEO Adam Foroughi’s net worth declined by 31%—approximately $7.8 billion—since the start of the year. His co-founder and former CTO, John Krystynak, saw a 30% reduction, amounting to a $2.4 billion loss, while Andrew Karam, another co-founder, became 29% less wealthy. These percentage declines highlight how rapidly market sentiment can shift, particularly for companies perceived to be heavily reliant on specific growth narratives.
The current market movements follow a period of immense wealth accumulation for many of these tech titans. An Oxfam report from 2025 indicated that the top ten richest U.S. billionaires, many of whom are synonymous with the tech industry, collectively added a staggering $698 billion to their net worth between 2024 and 2025. Individuals like Ellison, Bezos, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Dell’s Michael Dell each reportedly gained close to $70 billion last year, a figure that dwarfs the typical American household income by hundreds of thousands of multiples.
However, the rapid growth that propelled these fortunes also carries inherent risks, particularly as the AI market matures and competitive landscapes evolve. Ellison himself experienced a similar, albeit quicker, reversal last year. Briefly dethroning Elon Musk as the world’s richest person after a $101 billion surge in his net worth following Oracle’s strong earnings report, his wealth subsequently dropped by $34 billion just two days later. This swift decline was attributed to “second thoughts” regarding Oracle’s cloud deal with OpenAI, as noted by economists. Such instances illustrate the fragile nature of valuations tied to rapidly evolving technologies and the potential for multibillion-dollar adjustments based on market perceptions and competitive shifts. The entry of new, fierce competitors, such as Chinese tech firm DeepSeek with its low-cost R1 model, has also demonstrated the capacity to disrupt markets and erase billions from established players’ valuations in a short span.
