Elon Musk becomes first person in history to see their wealth fall by $200 billion

[midian182]

What just happened? Elon Musk can claim many things: the world's second-richest person, owner of Twitter, CEO of several multi-billion-dollar companies. But there's one title he's unlikely to want; Musk is the first person in history to see $200 billion erased from their net worth.

In 2021, Musk became only the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of $200 billion—Amazon's founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos beat him to that milestone. The Tesla boss continued to see his value climb that same year, reaching a peak of $340 billion in November 2021, one month after Tesla's market cap hit $1 trillion.

But Musk's fortunes have taken a downturn in recent times. Much of his wealth is tied to ownership of Tesla shares, which have fallen from $381 in April to their current price of $123. It meant Musk lost his title of the world's richest person to Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury conglomerate LVMH, in December. And as Bloomberg notes, Musk's current fortune of $137 billion means his wealth has dropped by $200 billion, the first time in history this unwanted feat has happened.

Many Tesla investors are placing the blame for the company's falling share price firmly on Musk and his preoccupation with Twitter. The CEO has sold almost $40 billion of his Tesla shares over the last 12 months, despite promising not to offload more on several occasions. The selloffs mean his SpaceX shares ($44.8 billion) are now worth more than his Tesla stock ($44 billion).

Tesla's tumbling share price over the last 12 months

It appears that Musk is trying to distance himself from the day-to-day running of Twitter by appointing a new CEO—one of his recent polls saw more people vote in favor of him stepping aside—though he's still trying to find someone "foolish enough" to take the job.

Unsurprisingly, Musk has been dismissive of reports about Tesla's falling stock price. He's also criticized the federal reserve for raising interest rates. "Tesla is executing better than ever!" Musk tweeted last month. "We don't control the Federal Reserve. That is the real problem here."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/97133-elon-musk-becomes-first-person-history-see-their.html

 

[Beerfloat]

Nice one. Keep doing what you're doing Elon and let's shoot for the next 200!

 

[Kam7r]

Lose 200 billions... most ppl still think you're some kind of genius...

 

[cldmstrsn]

This guy is one pathetic loser

 

[winjer]

Somehow he managed to beat Zuckerberg in losing money.
Must be a new game for billionaires.

 

[Dr Roboto]

Let's be clear. The vast majority of his "fortune" is based on a ridiculously overvalued stock in a car company. As all stock bubbles do, they deflate and so does the ego of the once "genius" that had all of his money in it. This time is no different for Elon.

It is a shame that the PR super-salesman that really did bring EV's, OTA updates, and "Autopilot" capability into the mainstream had to go all Howard Hughes and/or Donald Trump and mess it all up. If we would have waited for the big three automakers to push advanced automotive EV tech, we wouldn't have seen EVs for another 10 years, if we were lucky.

 

[Kashim]

Remember when Musk overtook Bezos as the top richest guy in the world? He mocked Bezos by sending him a silver medal emoji on Twitter. I guess someone should send him a silver medal now too. He's so thin skinned though he would probably find a reason to ban them from Twitter.

 

[kimo1]

Aaaaahahahaaahahhaaa!

 

[VitalyT]

he's still trying to find someone "foolish enough" to take the job

Foolish enough to be CEO of a major corporation? Yeah, right...

 

[axiomatic13]

I am so thrilled I dumped $TSLA stock before he bought Twitter. My friends and I all got out in fact. We knew something was off-kilter with Musk. I would hate to be in the long haul for that stock now.

 

[netman]

Big Deal...!

 

[m4a4]

Oh boy, speculative money lost? Oh no, now the billionaire is a billionaire.........

 

[Enaks]

TSLA was always overpriced; it was hyped off the back of a ‘boy wonder’ myth. Him tweeting through everything certainly hasn’t helped and I don’t think the goodwill will return.

Like it or not, I’d bet a sizeable chunk of the Tesla target market is predominantly left-leaning, environmentally conscious, middle to high earners. Musk has alienated that demographic.

If I had £100k to spend on an EV right now, why would I choose a Musk-mobile over a Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron or BMW I-Series? If I was spending half that I’d look at a Kia or Hyundai before considering a Model 3.

TSLA will probably be sub $100 by the end of January.

 

[wiyosaya]

This is what happens when you constantly pass gas through your various orifices.

 

[DaveBG]

If I had £100k to spend on an EV right now, why would I choose a Musk-mobile over a Porsche Taycan, Audi e-tron or BMW I-Series? If I was spending half that I’d look at a Kia or Hyundai before considering a Model 3.

TSLA will probably be sub $100 by the end of January.

Because all those other cars you mentioned are still in the compliance car territory. They are not real EVs. Their battery chemistry is old and what was available at the time of their rushed development. Tesla made their own battery now which last times longer than the battery of any of those.
Also none of the competition has autopilot, decent app for remote control and the power. Tesla is still the fastest EV with the Plaid models.

And this shows. Tesla model Y is now the best selling car in Europe and is trending to be come the best selling car in the world.

 

[GoldenGoat]

The Tesla stock price was overvalued because a lot of people want to invest in electric cars, either because they think it's the future and the value will go up, or because they want it to be the future sooner than later so they are throwing money at it. Elon Musk was the guy doing electric cars so people invested in him. However, buying Twitter, which is a highly political company, has turned some people against him.

 

[WhiteLeaff]

He never had all that money to begin with... even if he sold the shares the total amount would be less

 

[Tinckerbel]

*laughs in Polestar

 

[OortCloud]

In tomorrows Musk Daily broadcast - Elon has Semi Skimmed Milk on his Corn Flakes!

 

[Enaks]

Because all those other cars you mentioned are still in the compliance car territory. They are not real EVs. Their battery chemistry is old and what was available at the time of their rushed development. Tesla made their own battery now which last times longer than the battery of any of those.
Also none of the competition has autopilot, decent app for remote control and the power. Tesla is still the fastest EV with the Plaid models.

And this shows. Tesla model Y is now the best selling car in Europe and is trending to be come the best selling car in the world.

Maybe; but then all of the manufacturers I listed know how to put a vehicle together plus they probably won’t burst into flames with me inside.

Tesla always ranks pretty much dead last in customer satisfaction surveys, the build quality is shoddy and the service is woeful.

Personally, I’d rather have the Taycan or an i8

 

[kiwigraeme]

Just you guys wait till that seriously low tessellation truck hits the market

My advice - for 2023 get your order in now.

 

[Lounds]

It isn't anything to do with Twitter and everything to do with QE being stopped (for the greater good) and now debt is real for a lot of the investors in the world so they're all pulling their funds out and the dollar is going up in value every day the Fed stops digitally printing the dollar.

 

[Dimitrios]

Just like I expected so many rude comments.

 

[Lounds]

Because all those other cars you mentioned are still in the compliance car territory. They are not real EVs. Their battery chemistry is old and what was available at the time of their rushed development. Tesla made their own battery now which last times longer than the battery of any of those.
Also none of the competition has autopilot, decent app for remote control and the power. Tesla is still the fastest EV with the Plaid models.

And this shows. Tesla model Y is now the best selling car in Europe and is trending to be come the best selling car in the world.

Most of Tesla's battery tech was in partnership with Panasonic and it's not any different in terms of chemistry from most battery manufacturers, all they've done is create more cells in a smaller form factor per battery. Tesla's motor and drivetrain is their own tech along with its software technology. The battery side isn't going to change the world. Chances are someone in a top University will figure out the battery of the future and a company will eventually buy that off the University, which in essence was funded by tax payers. See all great tech is funded by tax payers it just takes someone with an idea on how to capitalise from that tech.

 

[WhoCaresAnymore]

Once again. How is this tech news. Just more politics.