NEW YORK, Feb 6 — A plunge in US stocks yesterday cut the fortunes of the world’s 500 richest people by US$114 billion (RM444 billion) as the optimism over tax cuts that fuelled January’s gains gave way to worries about inflation.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc chairman Warren Buffett, the world’s third-richest person, was hardest hit, losing US$5.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Berkshire is the biggest shareholder of Wells Fargo & Co., which plunged 9.2 per cent, the most in the S&P 500. Buffett, 87, was one of 18 billionaires in the Bloomberg ranking to lose more than US$1 billion on the day. Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune tumbled by US$3.6 billion, the second-biggest decline.

Even Amazon.com Inc chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, wasn’t immune to the carnage. His fortune slipped US$3.3 billion to US$116.4 billion as shares of the retail behemoth fell 2.8 per cent. Alphabet Inc’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin each took hits of about US$2.3 billion.

The rout followed more modest declines on Friday that erased US$68.5 billion in wealth from the world’s 500 richest people. — Bloomberg