TOKYO, June 28 — Global markets erased another US$69.2 billion (RM284.85 billion) from the combined net worth of the world’s 400 richest people yesterday, bringing the total since the UK shocked investors with a vote to leave the European Union to US$196.2 billion in the last two trading days.

The billionaires on the index control US$3.8 trillion, a 1.8 per cent decline from the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The pain yesterday was felt most by Europe’s wealthiest, where 92 billionaires lost US$29.4 billion, bringing their two-day decline to US$81.7 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Since year-end, their net worth has slid more than US$45.5 billion, a 5.1 per cent decline.

The 150 billionaires from the US and Canada lost US$26.7 billion, or a two-day total of US$62.5 billion. They’re essentially flat for the year, with a collective gain of US$236 million. China’s 26 billionaires lost US$1 billiyesterday, bringing their two-day total loss to US$5 billion. They’re down 7.4 per cent this year, an US$18.7 billion drop.

Germany’s third-richest person, Georg Schaeffler, fared the worst on the index yesterday with US$1.9 billion trimmed from his net worth. Europe’s richest person, Spanish retailer Amancio Ortega, shed US$1.5 billion. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were the worst-performing US billionaires yesterday losing US$1.8 billion and US$1.6 billion respectively.

There were 69 billionaires on the index who added to their fortunes yesterday. Takemitsu Takizaki, the founder of Osaka-based Keyence, a maker of electronic sensors, led the gainers with an increase of US$579.3 million. Japanese retailer Tadashi Yanai, chairman of Tokyo-based Fast Retailing Co., was behind him with a US$552 million rise. Nineteen billionaires on the index added more than US$100 million yesterday. — Bloomberg