Musk’s net worth falls by $27bn after tech sell-off
Elon Musk set records last year for one of the fastest streaks of wealth accumulation in history. The reversal is under way, and it is steep.
The Tesla chief executive has lost $27 billion since last Monday as the car maker’s shares tumbled in the selloff of technology stocks.
His $156.9bn net worth still places him at No2 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, but he is now about $20bn behind Jeff Bezos, who he unseated last week as the world’s richest person.
Mr Musk’s woes only underscore the hard-to-fathom velocity of his ascent. Tesla shares rose by 743 per cent last year, boosting the value of his stake and unlocking billions of dollars in options through his “moon-shot” compensation package.
His gains picked up in the New Year when he passed Mr Bezos to become the richest person. Mr Musk’s fortune peaked later that month at $210bn, according to the index, a ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.
Consistent quarterly profits, the election of US President Joe Biden and enthusiasm from retail investors fuelled the company’s rise.
However, for some, its swelling valuation was emblematic of an unsustainable frothiness in technology. The Nasdaq 100 Index fell for the third straight week last Friday, its longest streak of declines since September.
Mr Musk’s fortune has not been solely subject to the forces buffeting the technology industry.
His net worth rose and fell recently in tandem with the price of Bitcoin.
Tesla disclosed last month it had bought $1.5bn worth of Bitcoin.
Mr Musk’s fortune took a $15bn hit two weeks later after he mused on Twitter that the prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “do seem high”.
Extreme volatility has hit many of the world’s biggest fortunes this year.
Chinese bottled-water tycoon Zhong Shanshan last month relinquished the title of Asia’s richest person to Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani after he lost more than $22bn in a few days.
Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert’s net worth grew by $25bn last Monday after his mortgage lender Rocket was said to be the next target of Reddit day traders. His fortune has since declined by about $24bn.