On a Thursday that followed the American midterm elections, roughly $2.5 trillion vanished from the value of US stocks as markets reconsidered what a Democratic sweep might mean for the machinery of artificial intelligence. The sell-off, led by chipmakers and companies that build the data centres AI depends on, left the richest figures in technology poorer in a single session, with Nvidia's chief executive slipping from ninth to 13th on the global wealth ranking. Beneath the numbers lies an old human pattern: a new political order arrives, and investors are left to guess whether the physical w
Huang Loses $15 Billion as AI Stocks Slide After Democratic Midterm Wins
Thursday's sell-off wiped out the gains recorded in the previous session
Mark
Wednesday the market rose on the election, Thursday it fell on the same election. What changed?
Mimi
The reading changed. Wednesday, some investors figured data centre limits would hold down spending at Amazon, Meta and Google and help their profits. Thursday they decided limits could hurt tech more broadly.
Mark
So Huang's $15.1 billion loss is really a bet on AI building plans?
Mimi
Largely. Nvidia sells the chips that go into data centres, so it fell 9.3%, its worst day since January 2025.
Luke
Careful, though. The reporting attributes the fall to fears about data centre curbs. Nobody has announced a specific restriction in what we have.
Mimi
Fair. It's anticipated risk, not enacted policy. The article frames it as concern, not a law.
Mark
Musk lost far more than Huang, $79.7 billion against $15.1 billion.
Mimi
Yes, though SpaceX fell 9%, similar to Nvidia. His fortune is simply larger and more exposed.
Luke
And the cause is inferred from investor sentiment. Markets move for many reasons, and the sources don't separate this one out with certainty.
Mark
What should a reader watch?
Mimi
Whether the curbs become real policy, and whether AI infrastructure spending actually slows.
Luke
And whether Thursday's drop holds or reverses, since one day is a thin basis for a trend.
Il Polso
- Markets that rallied on Wednesday reversed sharply on Thursday, erasing the previous session's gains almost entirely.
- Nvidia shed 9.3% in its steepest one-day fall since January 2025, dragging chip and data-centre suppliers down with it.
- Fears that a Democratic Congress could restrict data centre expansion turned a political rally into a rout across the Nasdaq and beyond.
- The Nasdaq closed down 5.52%, its worst day since April 2025, while roughly $185 billion was lost by the 500 richest people tracked by Bloomberg.
- Investors now await proof that data centre curbs are becoming real policy, and a sign of whether AI infrastructure spending will slow.
On a Thursday that followed the American midterm elections, roughly $2.5 trillion vanished from the value of US stocks as markets reconsidered what a Democratic sweep might mean for the machinery of artificial intelligence. The sell-off, led by chipmakers and companies that build the data centres AI depends on, left the richest figures in technology poorer in a single session, with Nvidia's chief executive slipping from ninth to 13th on the global wealth ranking. Beneath the numbers lies an old human pattern: a new political order arrives, and investors are left to guess whether the physical world of cables, concrete and power lines will be allowed to grow as fast as the dream built on top of it. For now the question hangs unanswered, and the fortunes of the AI age rest on how that uncertainty resolves.
On Thursday, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang watched about $15.1 billion evaporate from his fortune, falling from ninth to 13th place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was far from alone. Elon Musk lost $79.7 billion and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison lost $10.1 billion, all three heavily tied to the AI infrastructure that powers modern models.
The trigger was the midterm elections. Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate and took key governorships, and investors feared this would bring tighter limits on building data centres. The day before, markets had surged, with the Dow posting its best showing since April 2025. Some investors had cheered the prospect that curbs would restrain spending by Amazon, Meta and Google, lifting their profits.
By Thursday that logic had flipped. Traders concluded that restrictions on data centres could weigh on the whole technology sector. Nvidia fell 9.3%, Broadcom 10%, SpaceX 9% and Oracle 6.9%. The Nasdaq dropped 5.52%, the S&P 500 4.36%, and the Dow 3.44%, with about $2.5 trillion lost across US stocks.
The open question is whether the feared curbs become binding policy, and whether the AI boom's appetite for new infrastructure begins to slow.
On Thursday, Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang watched $15.1 billion disappear from his net worth. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his fortune fell to $150.9 billion, which dropped him four places, from ninth to 13th on the global wealth ranking.
The cause was a sharp sell-off in technology stocks the day after Democrats won broadly in the US midterm elections. Democrats took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and also won key gubernatorial contests. Investors worried that this could bring tighter limits on building data centres, the facilities that supply the computing power AI models need.
Huang was not alone. Elon Musk, the SpaceX founder, lost $79.7 billion, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison lost $10.1 billion, Bloomberg reported. Each is heavily tied to AI infrastructure. Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California, is the leading supplier of high-performance computing chips. SpaceX develops its own AI models and builds data centres to run them. Oracle has expanded into supplying computing capacity to customers.
The share moves were large. Nvidia fell 9.3%, its steepest one-day drop since January 2025. SpaceX declined 9% and Oracle 6.9%. Broadcom fell 10%. Semiconductor makers and suppliers of data centre equipment took the heaviest losses.
The damage reached well beyond those names. The 500 people tracked by the Bloomberg index lost a combined $185 billion, the 14th-largest one-day decline since the index began in 2012. It followed a strong stretch for technology billionaires, who had been on course for their best year on record. Tech accounted for 36% of the index's total wealth gains, driven by the rapid expansion of AI.
Across the broader market, the US stock market lost about $2.5 trillion in value, CNN reported, amid concern about a possible slowdown in AI-related investment. The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.52% to 24,315, its worst day since April 2025. The S&P 500 dropped 4.36% to 7,353.73, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,833.06 points, or 3.44%, closing at 51,523.06.
Thursday's losses erased the previous session's gains. On Wednesday, markets had rallied after the election results: the Dow rose more than 1,500 points, its best showing since April 2025, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained over 1%. Part of that rally rested on a different reading. Some investors expected curbs on data centres to limit spending by companies like Amazon, Meta and Google, lowering capital expenditure and lifting profitability, and those three benefited.
On Thursday investors reassessed. They concluded that constraints on data centre development could instead weigh on the technology sector as a whole, CNN reported. The question to watch now is whether the feared curbs move from political risk into actual policy, and whether AI infrastructure investment slows as a result.
Citazioni salienti
Investors feared Democratic control of Congress could lead to tighter constraints on data centre construction.— Bloomberg and CNN reporting
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