U.S. tech stocks hit by concentrated selling, Nasdaq intraday falls more than 5%
On November 5, 2026, U.S. stocks saw a sharp selloff, with the technology and semiconductor sectors leading the decline. According to real-time reporting by The Wall Street Journal, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell about 5% intraday, entering a technical correction; the S&P 500 fell about 3.8%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,500 points. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) at one point widened its intraday decline to about 11%.
Nvidia shares fell about 7% to 9% intraday, while U.S.-listed shares of TSMC, Tesla and SpaceX at one point fell about 8% to 11%. The selloff came against the backdrop of Democrats gaining control of Congress after the midterm elections, as investors reassessed the outlook for AI data center construction and regulation.
Forbes reported that Elon Musk's net worth that afternoon was estimated to have fallen by about $80 billion, down more than 9% and below $800 billion; Michael Dell's fell by $18.6 billion, Larry Ellison's by $11.3 billion, Mark Zuckerberg's by $9.4 billion, and Jensen Huang's by $15 billion. The above estimates are Forbes' real-time tracking data and fluctuate with intraday price movements.
Original sources:
Title: Elon Musk’s Fortune Drops $80 Billion Amid Tech Stock Rout Publisher: Forbes (Antonio Pequeño IV) Publication date: 2026-11-05 URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2026/11/05/elon-musks-fortune-drops-80-billion-amid-tech-stock-rout/ Source type: media report Verification: The full article was read for this reading, verification date 2026-11-05; the index and individual stock declines were cross-checked against WSJ, CNN, Bloomberg and others Supporting content: Supports the changes in the net worth of wealthy individuals in the body and the background of the tech stock selloff; the exact intraday extremes of the indices are subject to real-time exchange data
ABAB AI Insight
Elon Musk holds about 11% of Tesla and a large stake in SpaceX, some of which has not fully vested, so his net worth is highly concentrated in these two companies. In the selloff on November 5, 2026, Tesla fell about 11.5% and SpaceX about 8%, directly causing his estimated net worth to drop by about $80 billion in a single day. Michael Dell's wealth mainly comes from his stake in Dell Technologies, Jensen Huang's from Nvidia, Larry Ellison's from Oracle, and Mark Zuckerberg's from Meta.
On the capital flow side, funds are flowing out in a concentrated manner from stocks related to AI hardware and data centers. After the midterm elections, investors are worried that the Democratic-controlled Congress may strengthen regulation of data center construction, electricity costs, and technology companies, leading to a pullback in valuations that had previously been pushed up by expectations for AI capital expenditures. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell about 11% in a single day, showing that the chip supply chain (Nvidia, AMD, Micron, TSMC, etc.) is under synchronous pressure rather than this being an event involving a single company.
A comparable case is the market selloff triggered by Trump's tariff announcement in April 2025, when the Nasdaq also saw a sharp single-day drop. The similarity is that changes in policy expectations triggered concentrated de-risking in high-valuation sectors; the difference is that this time the trigger was the potential impact of the election result on AI regulation and the pace of capital spending, rather than a direct tariff shock. The shrinkage in the fortunes of wealthy individuals is a direct reflection of stock price fluctuations, not cash outflows.
This selloff changes the market's pricing of the pace of AI infrastructure expansion, rather than any confirmed cancellation of orders. The index and individual stock declines reflect intraday sentiment; the final close and subsequent trading-day performance will depend on the specific progress of regulatory legislation and corporate capital expenditure guidance. The key indicators to watch are the specific restrictions on data centers in subsequent congressional hearings and legislative proposals, as well as whether customer capital expenditures are lowered in the next-quarter earnings reports of companies such as Nvidia.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
After the election results changed expectations for AI regulation, capital flowed out of semiconductor and data center stocks in a concentrated manner rather than through dispersed de-risking.
The one-day drop in the net worth of wealthy individuals mainly came from fluctuations in the prices of their holdings, rather than actual asset sales or cash transfers.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index's roughly 11% single-day decline shows that valuations across the AI hardware supply chain are highly sensitive to policy expectations.