Photo of RawPixel, with edits by the author (IG:@7eixoto)
In a world where capital, power, and technology are interwoven like fine fabrics in a haute couture piece, certain political decisions hold the power to transform fortunes overnight. That’s exactly what we witnessed last Monday (12th), when global markets reacted enthusiastically to the surprising trade truce between the United States and China — a move that sent tech stocks soaring and added several zeros to the net worth of the new economy’s billionaires.
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg — central figures of the digital era and regulars on the world’s most exclusive luxury lists — saw their combined fortunes increase by approximately $40 billion in just a few hours.
A Truce with Direct Market Impact
After years of tension and aggressive tariffs, the two economic giants made a strategic move towards stability. The United States reduced tariffs on Chinese products from 145% to 30%, while China cut rates on American goods from 125% to 10%. The measure, dubbed a “tariff truce,” had an immediate effect on stock markets and the assets of America’s biggest corporations.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the direct impact was most visible in tech stocks — a sector highly exposed to global trade. Tesla, Amazon, and Meta saw sharp increases, boosting the net worth of their founders:
- Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX) – + $14 billion
- Jeff Bezos (Amazon, Blue Origin) – + $13 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg (Meta, Instagram, WhatsApp) – + $12 billion
Combined, their wealth grew by an amount comparable to the GDP of countries like Monaco, Luxembourg, or the Bahamas — in a single business day.
