Tens of billions of dollars in personal wealth vanished in just months. As the economy shifts and policies reset, two of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs – Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Meta (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg – are seeing the value of their holdings shrink. Not because they mis stepped, but because the ground beneath them shifted: politics, markets, and public expectations are rewriting the rules of success.
It isn’t uncommon for founder wealth to fluctuate dramatically – mostly because the bulk of their wealth is tied to a single stock. But that shouldn’t be you. The High Quality portfolio, designed to sidestep stock-specific shocks and lower volatility, has outperformed the S&P 500 and achieved returns greater than 91% since inception
So who lost more? And what does it tell us about the next chapter for American business?
Current Wealth: Still Leaders, But Set Back
Musk lost nearly $100 billion or >20% of his net worth, while Zuckerberg, unlike the crash of 2022, saw his wealth decline by only 6.5% closely mimicking the stock decline this year.
Both remain among the wealthiest individuals globally, but the scale of the decline – especially Musk’s – is notable.
Meta vs. Tesla: The Stock Price Story
So far in 2025:
- Tesla stock has fallen by approximately 29.4%.
- Meta stock is down about 6.5%.
While much of this has to do with the broader market decline resulting from Trump’s push for tariffs, there is more to the story for each of the stocks.
Tesla’s stock initially surged after Donald Trump’s 2024 election win, driven by optimism around protectionist manufacturing policies and possibly Musk’s closeness with the president. However, those gains evaporated quickly as the realities of a highly competitive EV market – including intense pressure from Chinese manufacturers – set in. Tesla’s Q1 2025 vehicle deliveries missed expectations and its margins fell to the lowest level seen in the last 5 years.
Meta’s decline, meanwhile, reflects slower-than-expected growth in digital advertising and longer timelines for AI-driven monetization, alongside continued investment losses in its Reality Labs division.
The Tax Angle: The Hidden Dynamics
It’s important to understand: Wealth – specifically from stock ownership – is not taxed, and taxes are due when stock is sold and wealth becomes income.
However, when billionaires pledge shares as collateral for personal loans, a falling stock price can impact debt covenants. Lenders may require repayment or more collateral if the value of pledged shares declines substantially. If borrowers are unable or unwilling to provide more collateral, they may have to sell stock – potentially under less favorable conditions.
At this time:
- Much of Musk’s net worth is tied to Tesla shares, and he has pledged portions of his Tesla holdings as collateral for personal loans, according to past SEC filings.
- Zuckerberg has managed his finances differently, relying more on systematic stock sales
So far, no public filings suggest Musk has faced such a situation of forced liquidation in 2025 – but the risk is structurally higher compared to Zuckerberg, who has historically avoided significant personal leverage against Meta shares.
So What? Why This Matters for Everyone
This isn’t just a scoreboard of billionaire wealth. There are deeper implications:
- Founder Wealth and Market Confidence – When founders’ personal net worth declines sharply, it can impact investor psychology, employee morale, and – in cases where shares are pledged – the underlying stock stability.
- A Different Political Environment: Under the new Trump administration, U.S. economic policy is more focused on manufacturing, small business revitalization, and local employment rather than on boosting the stock market – in a way, a re-distribution of wealth might be happening
- The Role of Debt: For founders who have pledged shares, falling stock prices can create liquidity risks that were not obvious during boom times. Managing leverage carefully is now critical.
Founders’ wealth is highly concentrated in companies they run. And that means large fluctuations – but that’s fine. They can take the risk as they run those companies.
But when it comes to long-term money compounding for most of us – a simple rule is – never put all your eggs in one basket. The Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio is designed to diversify stock-specific risk while providing exposure to the upside. With a collection of 30 stocks, it has a track record of comfortably outperforming the S&P 500 over the last 4-year period. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.