Elon Musk is 150 billion euros poorer because Tesla shares are collapsing

Tesla’s mounting problems have dealt a major blow to Elon Musk’s net worth. In November 2021, Tesla’s CEO was at the helm Bloomberg Billionaires Index and seemed untouched by the estimated wealth of 340 billion dollars (320 billion euros). At this time he was three times richer than Warren Buffett.

Since then, however, Musk’s net worth has fallen by around $160 billion (150 billion euros) to $178 billion (167 billion euros). The main reason for this is Tesla shares, which have fallen from a revised peak of $ 415 (€ 390) in 2021 to $ 157 (€ 147) – a decrease of 62 percent.

The price collapse caused Tesla’s market capitalization to drop from more than $1.2 trillion (€1.1 trillion) to less than $500 billion (€470 billion). Musk’s net worth has taken a hit from the decline, as his thirteen percent stake in the automaker accounts for the bulk of his wealth.

Musk’s start to this year was also poor compared to his peers in the top twelve. In January he topped the Bloomberg rich list with a fortune of $229 billion (€215 billion), but since then his wealth has fallen by $51 billion (€48 billion), or 22 percent.

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The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX now ranks third in the wealth rankings, behind Bernard Arnault of LVMH and Jeff Bezos of Amazon. Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is about to overtake him as well.

Musk is also the only one of the 11 richest people whose net worth has fallen this year. On paper, he has lost more money than anyone else on the list has earned, including Zuckerberg, who earned nearly $50 billion (€47 billion).

Tesla’s stock has fallen in recent months amid growing concerns about the company. Musk told employees over the weekend that more than 10 percent of the company’s global workforce would be laid off, suggesting that demand for electric vehicles has stalled.

The automaker delivered fewer vehicles to customers than expected last quarter and has made price cuts that threaten to dent its profit margins.

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In addition, Musk is avoiding stiff competition from Chinese rivals such as Buffett-backed BYD and has repeatedly highlighted the painful impact of high interest rates on consumer demand.

Musk’s fortunes are not entirely connected to Tesla. He also owns a 42 percent stake in SpaceX, the space exploration company valued at $180 billion (169 billion euros) in December, and about 79 percent of the stake in X, after acquiring Twitter in 2022 and last year The year it changed its name.

Read the original article in English here.