3 Asian billionaires among world’s biggest wealth losers

Three Asian billionaires experienced significant declines in their wealth, according to the latest data from Forbes. Robin Zeng, the chairman of battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, saw the largest wealth loss globally with a $5.9 billion reduction, dropping from 61st to an unspecified rank, and from $37.3 billion to an unknown value.

CATL's stock fell 3.3% on Thursday, as the company's profits grew more slowly than revenue, raising concerns about weakening margins, increased competition, and the loss of Chinese tax incentives. CATL's third-quarter net profit, while still rising 14.5% year-on-year, fell short of analyst expectations and slowed down from 36.5% in the previous quarter.

India's second-richest man, Gautam Adani, chairman of the conglomerate Adani Group, experienced a $2.9 billion wealth decline, reducing his net worth from $75.3 billion to $75.3 billion, placing him at 28th globally. Adani Enterprises, the group's main company with interests in airports, infrastructure, and mining, saw its shares drop by 1.8%, down 15% in a month.

Investment firm GQG Partners, a major Adani Group backer, sold over $1.35 billion worth of Adani holdings during the April–June quarter, raising concerns about declining institutional investor confidence.

Japan's second-richest billionaire, Masayoshi Son, CEO of investment giant SoftBank Group, saw a $2.8 billion wealth loss, the fifth-largest globally. His net worth fell 4.9% to $53.3 billion, placing him at 34th globally. SoftBank, which has stakes in companies like Apple, Qualcomm, and OpenAI, has been among AI-related stocks that weakened this month due to concerns over high debts.

Its shares fell 6.9% on Thursday, down 23% over the past six months. Larry Page, co-founder of Alphabet, and Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, rounded out the list of five largest wealth losers, with their net worths dropping $4.3 billion and $3.9 billion, respectively, to $274.7 billion and $252.8 billion.