DeepSeek's AI Disruption Shakes Tech Industry, Erasing Billions from Top Billionaires' Fortunes

DeepSeek's AI Disruption Wipes Out $81 Billion from Elon Musk's Fortune

Elon Musk, the billionaire tech investor who founded SpaceX and Tesla, apparently lost a lot of his net worth during the rise of DeepSeek, the Chinese AI startup that is shaking up the technology sector. Musk is now estimated to be worth US $351 billion (or Rs 30.70 lakh crore), reflecting a staggering drop of US $81 billion (or Rs 7 lakh crore). As assessed by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the loss was linked to stock price fluctuations, shifts in , and disruptive innovations by DeepSeek that kindled uncertainty among investors across the upper echelon of global capitalist companies and moguls.

Elon Musk loses $90 billion: How China's DeepSeek torpedo hit where it hurts most

Elon Musk's fortune, tied to SpaceX and Tesla, has taken an $81 billion hit in 2025 due to innovations from Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. Despite the setback, Musk remains the world's richest individual with a net worth of $351 billion. The tech industry's top billionaires have faced significant losses, highlighting the volatile race for AI dominance.Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, remains the world's richest individual, but his fortune has taken a substantial hit. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk's net worth now stands at $351 billion (₹30.70 lakh crore). However, he has lost a massive $81 billion (₹7 lakh crore) in just two months of 2025. The biggest blow came from the rapid rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup whose innovations have disrupted the tech industry. In February alone, Musk's fortune dropped from $433 billion to $349 billion. Musk's wealth is primarily tied to his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla. As of March 2, 2025, he owns 42% of SpaceX through a trust. The private space company was valued at nearly $350 billion in a December 2024 tender offer, making his stake worth $136 billion. Meanwhile, his 13% ownership in Tesla is worth around $120 billion. Tesla, the world's most valuable carmaker, had a market valuation of $942.37 billion as of February 28, 2025. Musk also holds an 79% stake in X Corp (formerly Twitter), though its value has plummeted by 69% since his 2022 acquisition for $44 billion. As of now, his stake is worth just $8.06 billion, per Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund. Beyond SpaceX and Tesla, Musk has significant stakes in emerging ventures. His AI startup xAI is valued at $22.6 billion, while The Boring Company and Neuralink are worth $3.33 billion and $2.07 billion, respectively. However, Musk's financial commitments are just as hefty. Bloomberg estimates his liabilities at $23.2 billion. Notably, he has repeatedly stated that he does not take a salary for his work at the U.S. government's Department of Government Spending (DOGE). DeepSeek's rise has sent ripples across the tech industry, erasing billions from the wealth of top billionaires. The startup's AI model, known as the R1, has been praised for its efficiency and affordability, challenging established players like OpenAI. Nvidia, one of the hardest-hit companies, saw a massive $600 billion drop in market value due to a selloff triggered by DeepSeek's success. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, now the second richest man with $236 billion, lost $11 billion in 2025. Amazon's Jeff Bezos, ranked third with $232 billion, also took a hit. Despite the financial impact, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged DeepSeek's groundbreaking innovation. Speaking on an earnings call, he said, "It's an excellent innovation, but even more importantly, it has open-sourced a world-class reasoning AI model." He added that DeepSeek had "ignited global enthusiasm." Several other business magnates have suffered losses in 2025: While DeepSeek has disrupted the AI landscape, industry leaders are not backing down. Meta, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are expected to invest $320 billion in AI and data centre expansion, according to CNBC. For Musk, his diversified portfolio has helped him retain his status as the world's wealthiest individual, but 2025 has proved to be one of his most financially turbulent years yet. The billionaire rankings remain volatile, and the race for AI dominance is only heating up.

DeepSeek's Success Causes $94 Billion Loss for Top Tech Billionaires

DeepSeek's rise wiped out $94 billion from the fortunes of Musk, Zuckerberg, and Huang in 2025 with its competitive AI models. DeepSeek emerged as a Chinese artificial intelligence startup that transformed the technology sector through its fast growth. DeepSeek Company disrupted the market so greatly that it resulted in billion-dollar losses to top tech billionaires Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jensen Huang. DeepSeek's triumph resulted in the destruction of $94 billion from the total combined worth of these billionaires. Elon Musk saw his wealth decrease from $433 billion to $349 billion constituting one of the largest recent setbacks for a billionaire.