Tesla CEO and new owner of Twitter, Elon Musk, entered Guinness World Records as the person who lost the most money in history, as recently released by the Guinness Book of Records. The billionaire has lost something around US$ 182 billion since November 2021, according to Forbes estimates, while Bloomberg raises the figure to US$ 200 billion.
Although the exact number is difficult to pinpoint, the fall in the Tesla CEO’s personal fortune exceeds – and a lot – that of the then record holder Masayoshi Son, a Japanese investor who lost US$ 58.6 billion in the 2000s.
Most of Musk’s wealth is linked to Tesla, whose shares have fallen 65% in 2022 thanks to a weakening in demand for the brand’s electric vehicles (EVs).
Increased competition for EVs by traditional automakers is behind lower demand, while fears that the United States will enter a recession in 2023 dampen investors’ risk appetite and haunt the auto market, which has recently experienced turmoil in the supply chains.
The $44 billion acquisition of Twitter didn’t help Tesla’s stock performance — or Musk’s personal wealth — either.
Since he showed interest in commanding the social network, in April last year, the billionaire has sold around US$ 23 billion in shares of the automaker, and, added to his erratic behavior, investors have feared that the CEO’s divided attention will harm the activities from Tesla to some degree.
In response to critics, Musk said he hasn’t missed a major Tesla meeting since taking over Twitter. The automaker remains the industry’s most valuable, with a market value of around $386 billion — still far higher than its automotive rivals, but far smaller than tech titans Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon, with the which it was being compared a year ago.
And, even with the record loss, Musk remains in second place in the ranking of the richest people in the world, second only to Bernard Arnault, founder of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) and owner of a net worth valued at $190 billion.
Musk is currently worth an estimated $138 billion.
Source: CNN Brasil
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