Shafaq News/ The richest 500 people on earth lost nearly 2.1 percent ($ 117 billion) of their net worth on Monday, with US stocks falling as the US-China trade war escalated.

Twenty of those listed on the World Wealth Index lost nearly $ 20 billion, losing $ 1 billion each, while Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, lost $ 3.4 billion, the Bloomberg economic agency said in a report.

The loss came as investors headed for safe havens such as gold as trade tension between Beijing and Washington intensified after US President , Donald Trump announced in a group of 168-word tweets his intention to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods imported by the United States.

Which means that every word written by the US president has caused the world's 500 richest people a loss of about 700 million dollars, in reference to the impact of Trump's Tweets on the markets.

Most of the global markets, led by the US dropped on Monday amid concerns over the growth of the global economy after the escalation between Washington and Beijing.