Some of the richest software executives in the US have reportedly lost $62 billion this year as fears grow that artificial intelligence could wipe out the industry’s most profitable businesses.
Eight of the top 10 billionaires so far in 2026 were among the billionaires who built their wealth through software, according to Bloomberg News.
The three founders of AppLovin, a mobile advertising and technology platform, have each lost about 30% of their net worth so far this year, with the stock down about a third.
Adam Foroughi, CEO of AppLovin, saw his personal profit drop from more than $27 billion in December to $17.3 billion as of Tuesday.
Foroughi’s founders, John Krystynak and Andrew Karam, saw their wealth drop 29.3% and 23.2%, respectively.
As of Tuesday, Krystynak had lost $2.4 billion for the year and Karam’s net worth was down $2.8 billion.
Jim Goodnight, the founder of the SAS Institute, one of the largest privately held software companies, has seen his fortune drop 23.2% since Jan. 1 – who lost about 3.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Oracle founder Larry Ellison has lost nearly $40 billion this year as his company’s shares have slumped, dropping him to sixth place on the list of world’s top performers.
Bloomberg put his net worth at $207 billion.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s fortune is down 18%, with losses estimated at $1.8 billion for the year to date.
Earlier this week, Anthropic released its new Cowork platform, which includes a plugin designed to automate routine legal work — the latest example of AI appearing to perform tasks once performed by humans through software.
The legal plugin allows AI to perform tasks normally handled by lawyers, including contract review, risk flagging and more.
Technology has raised the possibility that general-purpose AI can now do the same work as a human on their computer at a fraction of the cost.
The announcement sparked $285 billion in sales across software, financial services and asset management stocks.
Shares of LegalZoom fell 20% while RELX fell 17% and Wolters Kluwer fell 13%.
Intuit shares fell 11%, as investors eyed accounting software as the next target for AI disruption.
Jensen Huang, CEO of AI chipmaker Nvidia, said the selloff made no sense to him.
“It’s the most ridiculous thing in the world,” Huang said in remarks reported Tuesday by Bloomberg News.
“There’s this idea that the tool is deteriorating and being replaced by AI. Can you use a screwdriver or invent a new screwdriver?”
Capital market veterans say the tech shutdown isn’t just about artificial intelligence — it’s about the money.
“This isn’t just about AI. It’s about gravity,” said William Stern, co-founder of small business fintech Cardiff.
“If money is worth 5% or 6%, you can’t tell the company the potential profit in 2030. Those figures don’t work anymore.”
Stern said investors are no longer willing to wait years for returns that may not materialize.
“The market is finally waking up and asking, ‘Where is the money today?'” he said. “If you can’t answer that, your stock is crushed.”
He pointed out that the AI hype masked deep problems in software benchmarking in an era of cheap money.
“AI is real. But the ratings weren’t real,” Stern said.
“They were built on the idea that money will be cheap forever. Now this money is expensive, investors are done with myths.”
Stern dismissed the idea that technology promise alone can support stock prices.
“You can’t pay homework with grammar,” she said.
“You need a profit. That $62 billion drop is just a bubble blowing up.”
