Musk's net worth decreased by $8.4 billion, while Jeff Bezos' losses were about $9.8 billion (about Rs 80,000 crore) (around Rs 70,000 crore).

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, and Jeff Bezos, creator of Amazon, both lost billions on Tuesday as Wall Street saw carnage due to a widespread stock market sell-off following the announcement of higher-than-expected US inflation figures. According to sources, the overall consumer price index rose 0.1% in August and was 8.3% higher than it was a year earlier. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Jeff Bezos lost around $9.8 billion (around Rs 80,000 crore), while Musk’s net worth dropped by $8.4 billion (around Rs 70,000 crore). 

According to sources, following the Covid-19 pandemic, all three of the major US stock indices—Dow Jones, S&P, and Nasdaq—fell to record lows after seeing their largest one-day percentage drops since June 2020. This week, the markets posted four-day winning streaks, which was advantageous for investors. On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite fell 632.84 points, or 5.16 per cent, to 11,633.57, the S&P 500 lost 177.72 points, or 4.32 per cent, to 3,932.69, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,276.37 points, or 3.94 per cent, to 31,104.97. The S&P 500's 11 major sectors all finished the session in the red.

Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Steve Ballmer, among other prominent billionaires, lost more than $4 billion. According to the recently disclosed Bloomberg data, well-known investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates lost $3.4 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively.

Since the first quarter of 2022, US inflation has caused mayhem in the market, with the exception of July, when the markets recovered. US inflation increased from 8.6% in May to 9.1% in June before dropping to 8.5% in July. Global market experts claim that while there is a possibility that the US CPI data may decline in the upcoming months, the core inflation rate will continue to worry economists, analysts, and investors.

Bezos founded Amazon, the largest online retailer in the world, and he also controls the space exploration firm Blue Origin. Musk is the founder and CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla. He is engaged in a legal dispute regarding the takeover of Twitter, where he also has stock.

After US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made it apparent in his statement at the Kansas City Fed's annual policy meeting in Jackson Hole that the Fed will maintain raising interest rates to combat inflation, Bezos and Musk combined lost around $12 billion last month (on August 27).

Musk lost $5.5 billion, while Bezos lost $6.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In addition, Buffett and Gates lost a combined $2.7 billion and $2.2 billion. Sergey Brin’s fortune plunged below $100 billion, as per Bloomberg data. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index tracks the wealth of the world’s wealthiest people, which is updated daily at the close of every trading day in New York.