r/technology • u/DontFearTheCreaper • 20h ago

Social Media Tech CEOs who grinned behind Trump at inauguration lose billions in wake of tariffs

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-tariff-bezos-musk-zuckerberg-b2727147.html
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u/princeofzilch 20h ago

I haven't heard that they're upset about it. 

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u/Objective_Resist_735 20h ago

That's because they can lose 100 billion dollars and still be the richest people on the planet. That doesn't matter much to them. They are currently dividing up government agencies and taking control of them under the guise that the free market will do things better. In reality it will turn services into for profit business that prey on their customers, and we will lose all control to a few people and never get it back.

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u/princeofzilch 20h ago

Right. This article isn't really the dunk that the headline claims. 

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u/LarrySupertramp 19h ago

This is the media trying to make it seem like the working class is in a similar situation as the oligarchs which could not be further from the truth. BS cope that dumb people fall for.

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u/ASpookyBug 6h ago

It reminds me of early covid when all the celebrities were having meltdowns from not being given attention at all times and started posting about how COVID was "the great equalizer".

Like, no. You're sitting in your mansion eating wagyu beef cooked by your personal chef who's kitchen is so large social distancing isn't even a concern. Meanwhile most of the country isn't being paid because they aren't allowed to go to work.

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u/craig_cignarelli 17h ago

I really want to feel some schadenfreude here, but I'm not getting much if any satisfaction. I can't think of one lifestyle change for them, as opposed to everyone trying to make paychecks meet.

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u/Logical-Bowl2424 20m ago

They’re still way ahead of us ,they could have been planning for weeks /months

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u/Dazbuzz 19h ago

Im sure the stock market will jump back up eventually. These billionaires will be the ones making the most out of it when it does. Why wouldnt they be laughing?

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u/Whiterabbit-- 7h ago

in the pat the stock market has been volatile but always upwards. trump is changing some very basic things about how America (& the world) does business - all in negative ways that can't be fixed. we can be down for 30-50 years. look at what is happening in Japan since the 90s- it is entirely possible that market won't bounce back for a generation or more.

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u/ImDestructible 16h ago

That's what most people don't seem to understand. If they loose 50% of their net worth, they're still billionaires. If the average American looses 50%, they're homeless. Everything single one of them will end up better off after all of this.

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u/RonWill79 16h ago

Also, they didn’t “lose” anything unless they sell their stocks now. If/When the market recovers, they will have lost nothing.

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u/wandering-monster 18h ago

No, it's because they've lost $100B in stock valuation.

They already took out loans against that stock as collateral. Meaning: they have the cash in hand. The banks lost $100B today, if they decide to call in the loans and force them to sell.

The tech bros will use that cash to buy stuff up when the market crashes, own even more of the economy, then let it recover.

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u/FamousAmos87 17h ago

They can shrug off 100 Billion, but the moment you tax them they twist up into knots and whine about it.

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u/ItsMandatoryFunDay 17h ago edited 15h ago

It also goes to show how much "money" is meaningless.

Something like a couple trillion dollars was wiped out in stock value.

There isn't physically less money just value.

Like if I bought a rock for $10 yesterday and it's only valued at $4 today is the other $6 "lost"?

I know that's super oversimplying things. :)

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u/aguynamedv 14h ago

Something like a couple trillion dollars was wiped out in stock value.

Nearly $10,000,000,000,000 wiped out since Trump took office.

Billionares don't care. The average American just saw their 401k destroyed for absolutely no reason at all.

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u/hatemakingnames1 7h ago

It's all a guess, and it's often a bad guess

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u/GreyMASTA 19h ago

"Never give it back..."

And how about not letting them f*cking getting away with it? Do you think kings and emperors simply vanished when we said, "Let's have a Democracy?". No, our ancestors rose up and stood against them!

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u/Popular_Try_5075 3h ago

It does matter to them if they lose it through paying fucking taxes though. They'll burn the Constitution rather than pay their fair fucking share.

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u/remesamala 3h ago

They sacrifice to gain. They will own these countries that are getting flipped behind the scenes.

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u/Shuttalking 15h ago

The thing is they haven't LOST ANYTHING. They're not selling. They're buying and waiting 

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u/BTP_Art 12h ago

That’s why we need to separate their heads from their necks. Turns out doing this in middle of the city with big machine a few times can keep the others inline.

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u/Not_a_bot07734 6h ago

What other agencies are these CEOs involved in?

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u/Fahad1012 1h ago

A hundred billion dollars is not cool. You know what would be cool - 1 trillion dollars.

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u/Herban_Myth 20m ago

If they can afford to lose that why can’t they pay taxes instead?

Control? Power? Exploitation?

Theft?

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u/I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY 18h ago

why would they be upset, all the companies they want to buy just went on sale.

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u/princeofzilch 18h ago

Exactly my point

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u/sniffstink1 20h ago

Just text Jeff and ask him.

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u/princeofzilch 20h ago

I assume many reporters are trying to ask him. 

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u/Least-Back-2666 14h ago

His beach house on Maui is at the southern end on la perouse bay. He tried hiding the purchase by purchasing the company who owned the property but everyone knew within a couple of weeks.

He even got Google street view to blur the gate.

Let's just say the only viable security there is whoever he brings with him.

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u/bluepaintbrush 16h ago

You might not be looking hard enough.

Not a tech ceo, but this billionaire CEO was audibly upset: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/04/03/oh-sh-rh-ceo-reacts-live-to-stock-tanking-on-tariffs-poor-earnings.html

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u/JCD25373 17h ago

Its because their hope is that them staying quiet, donating and attending Trumps inauguration and other event, gives them the opportunity to negotiate deals like this:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/apple-tariff-waiver-for-apple-watch-approved.html

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u/droans 16h ago

As long as the US economy recovers eventually, recessions disproportionately benefit the wealthiest.

The average Joe doesn't have much free money to throw around in a recession. Even if you have savings, you're focused on keeping it available in case something happens.

Meanwhile, almost every stock will drop during a recession. Even quality companies which aren't affected will see their market cap drop because money is leaving the market. The reason for that is two-fold. Some people are scared and pull their funds out of the market. Other people suffered job losses, or pay deductions and are forced to withdraw their retirement savings and investments now.

The UHNW will also see their money drop - perhaps by an even greater percentage then the average Joe. But that doesn't matter simply because they began with so much and have free money to throw around. Same goes for the largest companies - they have more money to start with and can get more and better financing than smaller companies can.

Apple would be a good example of a beneficiary of a recession. They will often acquire startups and small firms just for a single IP they can use in the iPhone or a MacBook. When the economy is healthy, these small companies can demand more. They're able to hold out for better deals as there's more funds available for them to finance their operations. Additionally, Apple might have to compete against other bidders who want the same tech. During a recession, though, they might have a very short runway and know they have to sell. Or Apple might not even bid; if they believe the company is circling the drain, Apple might just wait for them to go bankrupt and buy their IP on the cheap.

Look back at the Global Financial Crisis where hundreds of banks shut their doors. The biggest banks were able to just acquire them and all their deposits – sometimes for just $1. They got even richer while others lost everything.

On top of all that, small businesses suffer the most. Around two million small businesses closed during the GFC. Once the economy recovered, the demand was still there but now customers had to turn to large businesses instead.

Imagine that each company was a tree in a forest. The largest trees will have their growth stunted by the smaller trees competing against them for the same resources in the soil and the same sunlight. So if you cut down 80% of the smaller trees, the biggest ones will grow much more quickly.

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u/amonra2009 19h ago

You have company of 1 million, you sell services thet make 10usd per user. Shares drop 50%. You still get same 10 USD per user. Maybe even increase prices.. so yeah.

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u/BoomZhakaLaka 19h ago

they don't care, they will gain power by consolidating wealth upwards. What's a few billion price tag

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u/FrostyD7 19h ago

Trump is vindictive and will punish those who do. They didn't kiss the ring without strong implications behind what would happen if they didn't. So who wants to jump first and be the focus of his wrath? And what will it really accomplish for them with regards to navigating their company through these next 4 years?

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u/Acrobatic-Event2721 18h ago

They will be once they realize that we are at a point of no return. Globalization is over and we’ve destroyed all good will we had with other countries. It’s a lot harder to be a billionaire when you lose potentially up to 70% of the consumer market and access to cheap labor.

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u/klasredux 18h ago

This allows themselves to buy everything. You thought the COVID wealth transfer was bad, just wait.

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u/waIIstr33tb3ts 18h ago

the """""loss"""" is pennies to them

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u/FinndBors 18h ago

Most of them didn't want to be there. They had to pony up the 1m for inauguration because they know Trump is spiteful and will fuck them over he knew how much those tech CEOs despise him.

Do you blame them? Would you have done differently?

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u/bassman1805 17h ago

Billionaires becoming smaller-number billionaires don't really have that much to complain about. They have the assets to ride the crash out, and set themselves up to get even richer whenever things do turn around. Be that in a year, 4 years, 10 years, or 20 years.

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u/TinFoilBeanieTech 17h ago

Well, now that they've lost a fraction of their wealth I'm sure their lifestyle will be dramatically upended. Most of us would be devastated to lose 10% of our savings or income, they could lose 99.9% and still be wealthier than any of us would ever hope for.

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u/UUtch 16h ago

Have you checked?

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u/S_J_E 16h ago

Yeah, they're effectively trading their wealth for other forms of power

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u/IKROWNI 15h ago

That's because the price plummeting just means that they can buy more for themselves. They manufactured the dip they're going to buy.

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u/amakai 15h ago

Reminded me of this comic.

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u/chrisapplewhite 5h ago

Because the plan is to return to the pre-Fed model of tariffs funding the govt instead of income tax. Wealth inequality will explode back to those levels.

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u/lgodsey 2h ago

They'll be fine.

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u/Difficult-Court9522 2h ago

Well, if they knew ahead of time they could have gone ballsdeep on selling calls or buying puts.

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u/moltinglarvae 21m ago

Yeah, except they are among the few who can afford to buy a shit ton of stocks when the Dow hits 8000 again- just in time to lift those ineffective tariffs.