World’s richest five lose $8.7b in 2016 trading debut

The world’s five richest people lost $8.7 billion (Dh31.94 billion) on Monday in a global stock selloff sparked by weak factory data in China and a flareup in tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos led decliners on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in the first trading day of 2016, losing $3.7 billion as the world’s largest online retailer fell 5.8 per cent. His net worth is now $56 billion.

Spain’s Amancio Ortega dropped $2.5 billion to $70.4 billion as his Inditex SA, the biggest fashion retailer, fell 3.5 per cent. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett, Mexico’s Carlos Slim and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, the richest person on the planet, lost a combined $2.5 billion.

The biggest gainer was activist investor Carl Icahn, whose net worth climbed $210.4 million to $20.1 billion.

The Bloomberg index is a daily ranking of the world’s 400 richest people, who lost a combined $82.4 billion for the day.