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Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos, billionaires who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration face $209 billion loss – The Times of India

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Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos, billionaires who attended Donald Trump’s inauguration face 9 billion loss – The Times of India


Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Donald Trump and Jeff Bezos (From L to R)

When Donald Trump was sworn in as the United States President on January 20, he was surrounded by some of the globe’s most affluent individuals. The billionaires in attendance – including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg – were at their peak wealth, benefiting from robust stock market performance.
However, after seven weeks, circumstances have shifted dramatically. The commencement of Trump’s second term has resulted in significant financial setbacks for five billionaires who were present at the Capitol Rotunda, with their combined wealth declining by $209 billion, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The interval between Trump’s election and inauguration proved profitable for the world’s wealthiest individuals, with the S&P 500 Index reaching numerous record highs. Investors were drawn to equity and crypto markets, anticipating business-friendly policies under Trump.

S&P.

S&P 500 benchmark index

Musk’s Tesla Inc. experienced a 98% increase post-election, achieving a record high. Arnault’s LVMH rose 7% in the week preceding Inauguration Day, increasing the French businessman’s wealth by $12 billion. Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Inc., despite banning Trump in 2021, gained 9% before the new term and an additional 20% during his first four weeks in office.

who owns stock market wealth.

who owns stock market wealth

However, expectations of continued market growth under Trump’s new term have been disrupted. The S&P 500 has decreased by 6.4% since his inauguration, with government employee redundancies and uncertainty regarding tariffs affecting equities, leading to a 2.7% decline on Monday.

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Post-Inauguration wealth wipeout

The corporations associated with the inauguration attendees have experienced substantial losses, with their combined market value dropping by $1.39 trillion since January 17, the final trading day before the inauguration. Here’s an examination of these fortunes:
Elon Musk (down $148 billion)
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, 53, saw his net worth reach a record $486 billion on Dec. 17, the highest ever recorded on Bloomberg’s wealth index. His wealth surge was largely driven by Tesla’s stock, which nearly doubled post-election. However, Tesla has since lost all those gains, with European consumers turning away due to Musk’s political affiliations. In Germany, Tesla sales plunged over 70% in early 2024, while Chinese shipments fell 49% last month—the lowest since July 2022.
Jeff Bezos (down $29 billion)
Bezos, 61, who earlier clashed with Trump over the postal service and his ownership of the Washington Post during the president’s first term, congratulated Trump the day after the election on Musk’s X. Not only this, Amazon donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund in December, and Bezos dined with the president last month, the same day that Bezos announced that his newspaper will prioritize personal liberties and free markets in its opinion section. Amazon shares have fallen 14% since Jan. 17.
Sergey Brin (down $22 billion)
Brin, aged 51, a co-founder of the original Google alongside Larry Page, maintains a 6% ownership stake. He participated in demonstrations at San Francisco airport in 2017, opposing the Trump administration’s immigration measures. Following Trump’s re-election in November, Brin attended a dinner with him at Mar-a-Lago in the subsequent month. In early February, Alphabet Inc. experienced a significant share price decline of over 7% after failing to meet quarterly revenue projections. Recently, Alphabet’s representatives, whilst facing pressure from the Justice Department regarding the potential break-up of its search engine operations, engaged in discussions with government officials, requesting a more moderate approach.
Mark Zuckerberg (down $5 billion)
Meta emerged as the top performer among the Magnificent Seven technology companies in early 2024. Whilst these influential companies, which have driven substantial gains in the S&P 500 index over recent years, showed stagnant performance, Meta achieved a 19% increase between mid-January and mid-February. However, the company subsequently relinquished these advances. The Magnificent Seven index has experienced a 20% decline from its peak in mid-December.
Bernard Arnault (down $5 billion)
Arnault, aged 76, whose family controls the luxury group that owns prestigious brands such as Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, has maintained a long-standing friendship with Trump spanning decades. He conversed with the then-candidate the day following the Pennsylvania assassination attempt in July. LVMH shares, after showing a downward trend through most of 2024, experienced a significant rise of over 20% from the election period until late January. However, the company has subsequently lost the majority of these gains. According to Morningstar analysts’ statement last month, a potential tariff ranging from 10% to 20% on European luxury goods could adversely affect sales, which are already experiencing difficulties.





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ICAI to review Gensol and BluSmart financial statements – Times of India

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ICAI to review Gensol and BluSmart financial statements – Times of India


The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has decided to review the financial statements of Gensol Engineering Ltd and BluSmart Mobility Pvt Ltd for the financial year 2023–24, following serious allegations of financial misconduct and governance lapses involving the two companies.
The move was confirmed by ICAI president Charanjot Singh Nanda, who said the decision was taken during a board meeting of the Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB) on Wednesday.
Nanda told PTI that the FRRB decided to undertake a review of the financial statements and the statutory auditor’s report of Gensol Engineering and BluSmart Mobility for the financial year 2023-24.
The FRRB’s mandate includes assessing compliance with accounting standards, standards on auditing, and schedules II and III of the Companies Act, 2013. It also evaluates adherence to various guidance notes and RBI-issued master directions.
Gensol Engineering recently came under regulatory scrutiny after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued a market ban on the company’s promoters, Anmol Singh Jaggi and Puneet Singh Jaggi. The order, issued on April 15, alleged that the promoters siphoned off loan funds from the publicly-listed firm for personal gain, raising serious concerns about corporate governance and potential financial misconduct.
BluSmart Mobility, which operates a ride-hailing service, is also promoted by Anmol Singh Jaggi.
In case the FRRB identifies significant accounting irregularities during its review, the matter will be referred to ICAI’s Director Discipline for a detailed investigation. The findings may also be shared with relevant regulatory authorities.
Meanwhile, the ministry of corporate affairs said on April 21 that it will consider taking appropriate action against Gensol Engineering after examining Sebi’s order.
Under the Companies Act, 2013, the ministry has powers to act on corporate violations, which may include inspections by the Registrar of Companies or a probe by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in more serious cases.





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Ola Group surges in deep-tech, owns majority of patents granted to 117 unicorns

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Ola Group surges in deep-tech, owns majority of patents granted to 117 unicorns


Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Ola Group, spanning ride-hailing, electric vehicles, and AI, now holds over 50% of all patents filed by India’s 117 unicorns.

India’s unicorns collectively hold only 229 patents, with Ola Group owning more than half, according to data from the Indian Patent Advanced Search (IPAS) System.

In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Ola Founder Bhavish Aggarwal shared, “Happy that Ola group @OlaElectric @Olacabs and @Krutrim have half of all granted patents for all Indian unicorns put together. Not happy with our number of 650 applied patents though. We will accelerate much much more in coming years!”

Sources close to Ola confirmed that the group has filed over 650 patent applications, with 180 already granted. This includes filings by Ola Electric, Ola Consumer, and Krutrim, with Ola Electric accounting for the lion’s share of about 70-80% of the total.

The report reveals that 101 of India’s unicorns have filed zero patents, spotlighting a heavy tilt in the startup ecosystem toward valuation and market capture rather than technology creation.

In this context, Ola Group’s IP portfolio stands out as an example of deep-tech commitment. Ola Electric, the EV arm, filed 205 patents in FY23 alone, making it India’s top patent filer in the electric vehicle sector. These patents span battery innovation, vehicle software, AI, safety systems, and more.

In FY23 alone, Ola Electric invested ₹507 crore in R&D, representing 19.3% of its annual revenue, a sharp rise from ₹175 crore the previous year. The company is set to further ramp up innovation spending, earmarking ₹1,600 crore for R&D between FY25 and FY27.

As stated in its IPO prospectus, “R&D and technology form the backbone of our business model.”

The group’s filings also extend globally, with patents granted and pending in the U.S., U.K., Japan, China, and Australia, positioning Ola as a global tech-driven company.



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FY25 new business of life insurers rose 5% to ₹3.97 lakh cr. 

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Facilitating growth of GCC is a priority for govt 


New business premium of life insurance companies in India increased 5.13% for the fiscal ended March to ₹3,97,336.78 crore compared to ₹3,77,960.34 crore a year earlier.

Ending a fourth month decline streak, in March the life insurers clocked a little over 2% increase in the premium to ₹61,439.11 crore (₹60,213.62 crore), the business figures released by Life Insurance Council showed.

Private life insurers fared better with 9.80% increase in the premium to ₹1,70,666.87 crore (₹1,55,437.34 crore). In March, their premium rose to ₹24,531.79 crore (₹23,913 crore).

For the fiscal market leader, the State-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reported a 1.86% increase in new business ₹2,26,669.91 crore (₹2,22,522.99 crore). In March, the premium rose 1.67% to ₹.36,907.33 crore (₹36,300.62 crore). LIC sold 1.78 crore new policies in the year, which saw introduction of new surrender value norms in October 2024.

The new business of LIC during the fiscal included ₹62,404.58 crore from individual new business. Individual new business premium for FY25 registered a growth of 8.35% year on year.

The Council said for the individual new business premiums of the life insurers during 2024-25 went up 11.17% to ₹1,66,590.81 crore (₹1,49,851.67 crore).

It said the “strong performance” during the fiscal is on account of the life insurers focus on encouraging first-time buyers to secure comprehensive financial protection, resulting in a 4.47% growth in combined individual premium collections for March 2025.

In the group policy segment, single premiums reached ₹33,543.21 crore, with the category registering a 0.46% growth in premiums collected during March 2025. The insurers efforts to expand access was complemented by significant agent additions —over 11,15,661 new individual life insurance agents were added in 2024-25 — leading to a 7.88% growth in the cumulative agent count.



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