Bloomberg said so Elon Musk He was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, surpassing that mark in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos hit it.
But now, Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has become the first person in history to wipe $200 billion off his net worth.
Musk, 51, saw his net worth fall to $137 billion after Tesla shares plunged in recent weeks, including an 11% drop on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune peaked at $340 billion on Nov. 4, 2021, and he remained the richest person in the world until he was surpassed this month by French billionaire Bernard Arnault.
This shift reflects the extent to which Musk rose during the period of rising asset prices during the easy money period during the Corona outbreak. As Tesla’s market value surpassed $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 of 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 largest models later this year, while reducing production at its Shanghai plant.
On the other hand, in light of mounting pressure on Tesla, Musk was busy with Twitter, which he acquired for $44 billion in late October. He took a quick approach, firing staff, then asking them to return, and indiscriminately enforcing content policies to justify banning the accounts of some of the prominent journalists who covered him.
