Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and now Twitter, has seen his wealth plunge almost $100 billion this year, the steepest drop ever reported on Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The 51-year-old’s net worth — which peaked at $340 billion in November last year — took a nosedive on Tuesday to its lowest point in 2022 at around $170 billion, after Tesla shares hit a two-year low on Monday, Bloomberg reported.
Musk holds an around 15% stake in Tesla and the decline in the electric vehicle maker’s stock price on Monday shaved around $8.6 billion off Musk’s wealth in just one day.
The tech mogul draws most of his wealth from the stocks and ownership of Tesla, SpaceX, and most recently Twitter, per Bloomberg. Tesla shares have plummeted around 58.03% year to date.
Even so, Musk remains the world’s richest person, as his net worth beat that of runner-up Bernard Arnault — the chairman of the world’s largest maker of luxury goods, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton — by roughly $13 billion, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
According to the same index, Musk’s net worth also eclipses that of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, by roughly $54 billion and $57 billion, respectively.
Tesla’s stock price has been under pressure this year amid a broad selloff in the tech markets due to concerns of an economic downturn and on the back of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes.
Investors are also worried about Tesla’s business in China, amid the country’s strict Covid-zero stance and whether Musk is able to focus on his role as Tesla CEO after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion.
Both Musk and Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
(Business Insider)