India, March 11 -- In financial markets, the valuation of tech billionaires sometimes hinges on forces distanced from Silicon Valley. The war in the Gulf offers a grim and stark reminder. Oil prices swung sharply over the past 72 hours, with a shocking 40-50 per cent rise in a day or two, and an equally stunning fall by a quarter in 24 hours. As nations get ready for huge hits on GDPs, despite the slicky respite, some of the tech billionaires across the world took huge hits on their wealth.

Since the air strikes on Iran, and the Iranian response, tech stocks moved unevenly, rather than completely collapsing. At the end of the first week of the war, the tech-driven Nasdaq in the US was tad higher since the conflict began. While the Tesla ...