Bloomberg said that Elon Musk He was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, crossing that threshold in January 2021, months following Jeff Bezos reached it.
But now, Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has become the first person in history to erase $200 billion from his net worth.
Musk, 51, has seen his net worth drop to $137 billion following Tesla shares tumbled in recent weeks, including an 11% drop on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune had peaked at $340 billion on November 4, 2021, and he remained the richest person in the world until he was overtaken this month by French billionaire Bernard Arnault.
This shift reflects the extent to which Musk rose during the period of rise in asset prices during the easy money period during the Corona epidemic. As Tesla’s market value exceeded $1 trillion for the first time in October 2021, joining other major technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon.
Now, Tesla’s dominance in electric cars, the basis for its high valuation, is in jeopardy as competitors catch up. The company is offering US consumers a rare $7,500 discount to receive the two larger models before the end of the year, while reducing production at its Shanghai plant.
On the other hand, in light of the increasing pressure on Tesla, Musk was busy with Twitter, which he acquired for $ 44 billion in late October. He applied a quick approach, firing staff, then asking them to return, and applying content policies indiscriminately to justify banning the accounts of some of the prominent journalists who covered him.