Wealthy tech bros, former Playboy bunnies and Australian miners are turning on Donald Trump as the fallout continues from new tariffs he imposed on America’s trading partners late last week.
Business leaders who previously donated to Trump’s campaign or showed support for the US president during his re-election bid have criticised the widespread tariffs, which have plunged the global stock market into chaos.
The tariffs were designed to deal with "the highest trade imbalances" with the United States and were wide-ranging measures taken in a bid to prioritise US manufacturing.
However their sweeping nature has sparked fears of a global recession as investors sell off trillions of dollars' worth of stocks.
Even with a two per cent rebound on Tuesday, Australian stocks had still lost more than five per cent - or over $100 billion - in value since last Wednesday's close.
Meanwhile the world’s 500 richest people suffered the biggest two-day loss ever recorded on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, losing a collective $887 billion.
Business men and women who have previously backed Mr Trump’s policies and election platform have since turned on him, with some suffering billions of dollars wiped off their overall net worth.
Here's how much went missing
Who lost out?
Elon Musk
One of Trump’s most famous advisers and the chief executive of Tesla has taken the biggest hit so far.
Musk was already on a downward spiral following the boycotting of his products due to his close association with the president and his administration, but it was earlier this week that has dealt him his biggest blow yet.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index found Musk has lost $US31 billion ($51 billion) over the two-day drop, bringing his net worth to under $US300 billion for the first time since he ascended the rich list.
However, the loss is not too damning for Musk – who remains clear of other billionaires to still retain his top spot as richest man in the world.
Musk has not publicly reacted to the news of his losses, but he has lashed out at Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro over his defence of tariffs.
He posted on X and said: “PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing”.
Musk also later responded in agreement to a quote from economist Thomas Sowell:
“In every disaster throughout American history, there always seems to be a man from Harvard in the middle of it”.
However, he has also shared content from the United States Trade Representative X account highlighting “unfair trade practices imposed on American exporters”.
Jeff Bezos
E-commerce giant and recently-turned media mogul Jeff Bezos has fared a little better than Musk across the two-day drop.
The Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index found the Amazon founder had lost about $US24 billion to date.
Bezos has likely lost out due to the major stock market sell-off that was triggered by escalating tariff tensions, and analysts say Amazon’s reliance on manufacturers in places like Taiwan and China could make it vulnerable in the trade war.
He remains the second richest person in the world.
Mark Zuckerberg
The creator of Meta was a fixed presence throughout Trump’s campaign and joined forces with both Bezos and Musk to signal support from the technology sector.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, he lost about $US28 billion over the same period as Musk and Bezos.
Like Bezos, Zuckerberg’s core business is heavily reliant on manufacturing in countries like India and China.
It also relies on advertising revenue to survive, which could be impacted by any potential recession or economic slow-down.
Zuckerberg has previously flagged his support for tariffs, expressing concerns European and Australian companies were unfairly targeting American tech companies with regulatory action.
Just last month, he said the US government should be defending its own manufacturers and business owners against international penalties, however he has yet to comment on how the tariffs have impacted him personally.
Bill Ackman
Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman has been the most outspoken about the impact of Mr Trump’s tariffs.
He had a net worth of $US9.3 billion earlier this year, which has since fallen to $US8.8 billion — although the precise figure he lost during the market slump is not publicly available.
Ackman took to X to criticise the implementation of the tariffs.
"The president has an opportunity to call a 90-day time out," he wrote.
“This is not what we voted for.”
Ackman is the manager of Pershing Square Holdings.
He said Mr Trump was risking an "economic nuclear war" and criticised his key advisers and their understanding of economics.
"We will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate," he wrote.
"What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war?"
Gina Rinehart
Closer to home is the Hancock Prospecting billionaire.
Rinehart is the richest person in Australia and supported Trump throughout his first presidency in 2016.
She has pushed for similar policies in Australia around removing "red tape" and a US-style department of government efficiency.
Rinehart's support of the US has continued through her buying up shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla and local oil and gas companies.
Rinehart's net worth according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index is about $40 billion, but the Australian Financial Review said her fortune had dropped by $280 million since the market’s downturn.
Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting sells a lot of its iron ore to major trading partner China, but she has yet to comment on the implementation of tariffs on the steel markets.
Diane Hendricks
Hendricks is one of Trump’s most prolific donors and her net worth is about $US20.9 billion.
A former Playboy bunny, Hendricks made her fortune co-founding building products distributor ABC Supply Co, which is one of the country’s largest wholesale distributors of roofing, siding and windows.
The nature of the business means tariffs will likely see the price of ABC’s products increase.
Early estimations by Forbes found her company would likely lose about $US650 million as the market falls.
While Ms Hendricks has not commented on the impact of tariffs personally, her company issued a statement to Newsweek about their potential impact back in March, before they were announced:
“We understand that ongoing market conditions, including rising raw material costs and evolving tariffs, continue to create challenges in our industry,” the company stated on March 18.
“This prior week, we have begun receiving price increase notifications from our suppliers.
“As a result, ABC Supply will be adjusting pricing accordingly in line with the announced increases as they come into effect.”
The pain isn't over anyone — for billionaires nor the less-affluent — although some economic analysts said the sliding stock market is losing steam.
Australian shares closed higher on Tuesday, with the ASX 200 gaining 2.3 per cent and all sectors rising after the sessions of heavy selling.
However the Dow Jones continues to struggle as Mr Trump doubled-down on his implementation of tariffs.
"The long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place [sic]," he wrote on X.
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