Brexit-caused losses of the world’s 400 richest people amounted to an eye- watering $USD127.4 billion in a single day, Bloomberg estimates. Rich Britons have lost a “mere” $5.5 billion, according to reports.
The British voters’ decision to leave the European Union caused profound ripples in all major global equity markets.
The Brexit vote has sent European markets into the steepest decline since 2008. The pound plummeted to a record low, not seen since Margaret Thatcher was prime minister some 30 years ago.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index says billionaires lost 3.2 percent of their total net worth, now estimated at $3.9 trillion, reports RT quoting Bloomberg.
The worst losses among European billionaires were suffered by Amancio Ortega, Europe’s richest person, who haemorrhaged $6 billion. Many other mega rich individuals took a massive hit, including Bill Gates and Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, who lost over $1 billion each.
Britain’s wealthiest person Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor dropped more than $1 billion. However, for the UK’s wealthiest Brexit was surprisingly less devastating than for others in the billionaire class. Altogether, Britain’s 15 richest people lost “only” $5.5 billion.
British co-founder of stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, Peter Hargreaves, lost the most, seeing his fortune shrink by 19 percent to US$2.9 billion.
In a major irony, Hargreaves was the largest donor to the Leave campaign, donating £3.2 million, according to the UK’s Electoral Commission.
Hargreaves has shown no regret and says he is ready to work with the British government to shape the nation’s economic future once the country stops being an EU member state.