Elon Musk Loses $20.3 Billion in Wealth as Tesla Shares Tumble"
Elon Musk's wealth took a big hit of $20.3 billion on Thursday as Tesla Inc. warned that it might need to lower the prices of its electric vehicles, causing the company's shares to drop.
Elon Musk's wealth took a big hit of $20.3 billion on Thursday as Tesla Inc. warned that it might need to lower the prices of its electric vehicles, causing the company's shares to drop.
This decrease in net worth to $234.4 billion is one of the largest declines ever recorded in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. As a result, the gap between Musk and Bernard Arnault, the world's two richest people, has become narrower.
Even with this slump, Musk's fortune still surpasses that of Arnault by around $33 billion. Arnault is the chairman of LVMH, a company that makes luxury goods.
Back in June, Elon Musk surpassed Bernard to become the world's richest person after LVMH's shares fell in Paris trading. Throughout the year, Musk and Arnault have been in close competition for the top spot in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Additionally, other tech billionaires in the US also faced a tough day. Jeff Bezos from Amazon.com Inc., Larry Ellison from Oracle Corp., former Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer, Mark Zuckerberg from Meta Platforms Inc., and Alphabet Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin collectively lost $20.8 billion in net worth as the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 fell by 2.3%. Tesla's shares in Austin slid by 9.7% to $262.90 in New York, the most significant drop since April 20, after the company warned of potential further hits to its profitability. The automotive gross margin has already been impacted by months of markdowns, falling to a four-year low in the second quarter.
Musk stated that Tesla may have to continue reducing the prices of its electric vehicles if interest rates continue to rise. The markdowns have already taken a toll on the automotive gross margin, which hit a four-year low in the second quarter.
Elon Musk, aged 52, primarily accumulates his wealth through his stake in the EV manufacturer, as well as his holdings in Space Exploration Technologies and Twitter. His wealth had grown by about $118 billion this year up until Wednesday, with Tesla's shares rising by 136%.
On the other hand, Bernard Arnault, aged 74, saw his net worth rise by $39 billion this year, reaching $201.2 billion, with shares of LVMH gaining 26% in 2023.
What's Your Reaction?
