Rocket Companies' Dan Gilbert Loses $8 Billion After Disappointing Earnings

THE CHANGING FORTUNES OF THE WORLD’S RICHEST

he S&P 500 index rose Thursday and Friday to close the week at a record high, but not every billionaire reaped the rewards during the heart of earnings season.

Billionaire Dan Gilbert’s net worth declined by $8.1 billion this past week after his online mortgage provider Rocket Companies posted earnings that missed analyst expectations Wednesday afternoon. Rocket’s stock fell 17% Thursday and another 5.4% Friday to close at its lowest point since the company went public last August.

Gilbert’s estimated $38.4 billion fortune has been cut by more than 50% since a short-lived spike over $80 billion made him one of the 10 richest people in the world during a short squeeze in early March. Rocket Companies’ adjusted revenue of $4.04 billion in the first quarter nearly doubled year over year, but it still missed the average analyst expectation of $4.28 billion, according to Seeking Alpha. Analysts at RBC and Jefferies both lowered their price targets for the stock.

Gilbert’s slide came as the S&P 500 rose by a modest 1.2% this week, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 2.7%. The only person who lost more than Gilbert this week: Jeff Bezos. Amazon stock declined by 5.1% this week and Bezos converted some of his stock to cash pursuant to a predetermined trading plan, selling 1.48 million shares on the open market for estimated post-tax proceeds of $3.8 billion. The drop in Amazon shares, plus estimated taxes on the stock sales, pushed his net worth down by $10.4 billion. Bezos’ estimated $191 billion fortune now makes him a mere $7.5 billion richer than LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, who has only briefly ever held the title of richest person in the world.

Elon Musk fell further behind the top two this week, as Tesla’s stock sank 5.2%, lowering Musk’s fortune by $7.6 billion—though he’ll still be by far the wealthiest person to ever host Saturday Night Live when he takes the stage this weekend, worth an estimated $166 billion.

Rounding out the world’s four richest people, Microsoft founder Bill Gates transferred nearly $2.4 billion in stock to his wife, Melinda French Gates, after the couple announced on Monday they were ending their marriage, but it didn’t make a dent in his net worth. His fortune recovered to reach $129.6 billion by the end of the week, roughly equal to what it was last week thanks to gains in his expansive stock portfolio.

The week’s biggest winner was Warren Buffett, whose net worth grew by $6.1 billion to an estimated $109.8 billion after Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting last weekend. The Oracle of Omaha, who is 90 years old, has no plans to step away imminently, though he announced he expects his successor to be Berkshire’s vice chairman Greg Abel, who is worth an estimated $484 million.