Bloomberg News reports that even before it was found that the US stocks are tumbling into a bearish market this week, the wealthiest 1% in the country was staring down at astronomical losses.
The overall wealth of the group dropped by about $701 billion in the last quarter, which is the first drop since early 2020, which was triggered by $1.5 trillion in loss of stocks that were found to be offset by the real estate gains and other assets, as per new estimates from the Federal Reserve. This is an abrupt drop in the two-year run that had been extraordinary, and that added about $11 trillion to the net worth collectively taken.
These figures, while large, offered stark relief to the wealth put off in the recent weeks amongst the top 1% that own more than 50% of the equities that Americans hold. The S&P500 Index has dropped by another 19% since March 31st, while the NASDAQ 100, the tech-heavy giant, declined by an additional 24%. The two benchmarks showed a modest drop of 5% and 9% in the first quarter.
Says Nicole Gopoian Wirick, a financial partner associated with Prosperity Wealth Strategies, the president that people are scared, and no investor will want to suffer a dip in his investment portfolio by more than 20%. With wealthier clients, this drop-in figure is even greater because it becomes profound as the amount they invest is even bigger.
Bloomberg News reports that the loss in the stock market ate away at the shared wealth that the top 1% of Americans used to control and with the figure dropping to 31.8% towards the first quarter-end from a record 32%, at the beginning of the year, as per Fed data. Yet, the collective net worth remained at about $45 trillion, which is more than the bottom 90% that hold $43.5 trillion. Aside from the last year, the top 1% has a proportion greater than US wealth at any point in the estimates of the central bank dating back to 1989.
Unequal America
The ultrarich individuals in America that derived benefits the most from the run of the stock market through 2021 hint at the loss magnitude for the affluent that hold the larger position in equities. On the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Americans have lost approximately $760 billion in the current year, including $690 billion since the first quarter’s end. Elon Musk, the wealthiest individual in the world, witnessed his fortune drop by $64.5 billion compared to the end of 2021, causing his net worth to be approximately $206 billion.
Bloomberg News reports that even before a total return of 18% was delivered in 2020 and 29% in 2021, there was a return of the index of 22% in 2017.
