Gold goes bear-shaped: Billions lost as precious metal plummets

AFP Photo / Sebastian Derungs

Billionaire John Paulson lost almost $1 billion as gold posted its steepest decline in 30 years hitting $1,361 per ounce. The precious metal is no longer seen as a safe-haven asset.

Those who decided that it was too early to dump gold for good, lost a lot in the past few days. Billionaire John Paulson lost almost $1 billion of his personal wealth in the past two days as gold price fell to its lowest in almost two years, losing 13 per cent, Bloomberg reports. Out of around $9.5 billion invested across his hedge funds, some 85 per cent is invested in gold.

Influential investor George Soros seemed well prepared for the slump. He said earlier in April that gold has been “destroyed as a safe haven” during the euro crisis. However he added he expected the global central banks to continue buying gold to support prices.

Speaking with the South China Morning Post, Soros sounded cautious on the metal.

“It has disappointed the public, because it is meant to be the ultimate safe haven. But when the euro was close to collapsing last year, actually gold went down, because if people needed to sell something, they could sell gold,” Soros said...............................

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