Elon Musk is no longer the wealthiest person on the planet as a result of this year’s precipitous decline in the value of his Tesla shares. He has been replaced as CEO of LVMH by billionaire Bernard Arnault, who is ranked by both Forbes and Bloomberg.
Musk is not just Tesla’s CEO, but also the company’s top shareholder, with an estimated 14% stake. He spent $44 billion in October to acquire the social media platform Twitter.
Elon Musk Wealth Plummets
Forbes places Musk’s net worth at $176.8 billion, and that of Bernard Arnault at $188 billion. Musk’s net worth has been cut in half due to the decline of around 60% in Tesla shares this year and the decline of over 25% since Musk assumed control of Twitter.
Elon Musk’s net worth has suffered significant damage as investor confidence in him has eroded due to rising concerns about his use of Twitter and other difficulties at Tesla. Musk has liquidated at least $4 billion worth of Tesla shares since purchasing Twitter.
It is believed that Musk holds a sizable quantity of Bitcoin, which has suffered a terrible year alongside Tesla’s shares. When compared to previous years, 2022 was not a good one for Musk. His income and savings took a hit as a result.
Elon Musk isn’t just the brains behind electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket launch company SpaceX; he also helped start the tunneling firm Boring Company, which is working to beat gridlock. Six of the firms he co-founded were featured in Forbes.
Even though Musk owns around 25% of Tesla through shares and options, he has pledged over 50% of his stock as security for loans. SpaceX was created in May 2022, and its worth has climbed to $127 billion after a funding round in May 2022, tripling in just three years.
The Boring Company, which constructs tunnels to avoid traffic, was granted $675 million in April 2022 at a valuation of $5.7 billion. Twitter’s board agreed to sell the company to Elon Musk in April 2022 for $44 billion after Musk disclosed a 9.1 percent stake and threatened a hostile takeover.
Twitter sought the court to have Musk stick to the agreement after he tried to back out. In October 2022, the parties reached an agreement. The current ownership stake held by Musk is 82%.
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Twitter Acquisition
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives claimed that Tesla’s stock price dropped due to the circus, surrounding the company’s acquisition of Twitter. With each tweet, the overhang grows, and Ives argues that Musk has gone from a hero to a monster in the eyes of Wall Street.
A significant cloud is being cast over Tesla’s shares because of the damage done to Musk’s reputation due to the Twitter circus display. Musk and Tesla are interchangeable terms Moreover, he said. To fund the purchase, Elon Musk dumped billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares, which dragged down the stock price.
Due to the economic recession, financing costs have risen, discouraging potential customers. Additionally, investors are concerned that the market for the company’s electric vehicles may shrink as a result of an increase in supply from competing competitors.
Meanwhile, the autopilot system and government investigations into accidents have had an effect on Tesla.
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