Someone on reddit explained the difference between Bill Gates losses and Donald Trump's quite well.
The losses that Gates had were based on "potential" net worth, not actualized worth. Most of Bill Gates' net worth comes from the stock market, and his "losses" were the result of stocks going down in value, but that doesn't mean he lost money; in fact the stocks were still worth more than when he bought them.
Say you buy a stock for $1, and its value goes up to $1,000. Your net worth has increased 99,900%, but you don't have to pay any taxes unless you sell the stock for money (which counts as capital gains). If the stock crashes to $250, your net worth has decreased by 75%, but you're still up 24,900% from what you originally paid.
As for Steve Jobs, he took back Apple in 1997 when it was already failing as a business. That loss would have likely occurred whether or not he was CEO. The year after the loss, Apple made a profit of several hundred million, and then of course turned Apple into the 9th richest company in the world.
The losses that Gates had were based on "potential" net worth, not actualized worth. Most of Bill Gates' net worth comes from the stock market, and his "losses" were the result of stocks going down in value, but that doesn't mean he lost money; in fact the stocks were still worth more than when he bought them.
Say you buy a stock for $1, and its value goes up to $1,000. Your net worth has increased 99,900%, but you don't have to pay any taxes unless you sell the stock for money (which counts as capital gains). If the stock crashes to $250, your net worth has decreased by 75%, but you're still up 24,900% from what you originally paid.
As for Steve Jobs, he took back Apple in 1997 when it was already failing as a business. That loss would have likely occurred whether or not he was CEO. The year after the loss, Apple made a profit of several hundred million, and then of course turned Apple into the 9th richest company in the world.
