Elon Musk’s loss of wealth has become historic.
The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter is worth $137 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, good enough for second place on the world’s richest list behind LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault. But at its peak in November 2021, Musk’s net worth was $340 billion.
That makes Musk the first person to lose $200 billion in wealth, Bloomberg reported last week.
Most of Musk’s wealth is tied to Tesla, whose shares are down 65% in 2022. Demand for Tesla has weakened as competition in electric vehicles from established automakers has increased over the past year. The company missed its growth targets and reduced production in China.
Evidence of waning interest from car buyers in Teslas became apparent last month after the company announced a rare sale in a bid to clear inventory.
Tesla has offered two discounts for buyers who receive a vehicle before the end of the year, initially offering a $3,750 discount and doubling the discount to $7,500 with two weeks left in 2022.
Investors were rattled by the discounts, sending shares plunging 37% in December.
Critics have long questioned whether Tesla was ever worth the trillion-dollar valuation it had at the start of 2022. At its peak, Tesla was worth more than the 12 biggest automakers on the planet combined, despite having a fraction of their sales.
Tesla ended the year worth $386 billion — still much higher than its automotive rivals, but far less than the tech titans — Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon — with which it was being compared a year ago.
Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter didn’t help Tesla’s stock or Musk’s personal wealth either. Musk, Tesla’s biggest shareholder, has sold $23 billion worth of Tesla stock since his interest in Twitter went public in April.
His constant tweeting and increasingly erratic behavior, particularly after taking over as CEO of Twitter, has angered Tesla investors who want Musk to pay more attention to their significantly larger and more valuable company. Musk defended himself against critics, saying he hasn’t missed a big Tesla meeting since he took over responsibility for Twitter.
Tesla stocks could rebound and Musk could once again become the richest person in the world. But Musk’s reputation as a genius took serious damage in 2022 — almost as much damage as his personal wealth.
Source: CNN Brasil
A journalist with over 7 years of experience in the news industry, currently working at World Stock Market as an author for the Entertainment section and also contributing to the Economics or finance section on a part-time basis. Has a passion for Entertainment and fashion topics, and has put in a lot of research and effort to provide accurate information to readers.
