It's been a wild week for both the U.S. and global stock markets, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 2,230 points, or 5.5%, and the S&P 500 down 6% at close on April 4. It wasn't pretty for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, either, which plummeted 5.8%, putting the Nasdaq into bear market territory.
The trading session on April 4 was actually the worst day for U.S. stocks since 2020, and the second-worst day for U.S. stocks happened on April 3. In just two days, the S&P 500 went down more than 10%.
The movement comes after the U.S. made a "reciprocal" tariffs announcement, which was followed up by China announcing retaliatory tariffs of 34% on all goods and products from America. The U.S. also announced "individualized" tariffs as high as 50% on specific countries and areas of the world.
It's not just 401(k)s that are hurting. Some of the wealthiest people in the world have lost a lot of dough amid the turmoil.
One of the world's richest people, Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Meta Platforms, lost a lot of money. According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, Zuckerberg lost $27.34 billion in just two days. Bloomberg also states that the world's 500 richest people experienced the largest two-day loss ever recorded by the index.
Much of Zuckerberg's fortune comes for his company, Meta. It's worth noting that the new tariffs are hurting tech stocks even more than other stocks, because of the industry's dependency on manufacturing, computer chips and IT services from China, India, Taiwan and other areas outside of the United States.
On top of that direct correlation, a slowdown or decrease in American economic growth could also hurt advertising revenue for companies such as Meta and Amazon, according to CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer.
Some billionaires actually made money while everyone else was crying about the losses. According to Bloomberg, Rocket Mortgage co-founder and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert gained $1.91 billion on April 5, upping his net worth to $32.4 billion.
Related: Dollar General Gets Major News Amid Stock Market Turmoil