Elon Musk broke the world record for the largest personal fortune loss in history
- Elon Musk accidentally set a Guinness World Record for the most amount of money lost by one person
- His net worth is largely tied to Tesla stock
- Along with Tesla, he also owns SpaceX, The Boring Company, X / Twitter, and X.AI
Published on Apr 14, 2024 at 7:42 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Apr 14, 2024 at 7:42 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Adam Gray
Elon Musk recently lost an amount of money that’s so large it accidentally set a new record.
It’s a bizarre record, but it’s one that most of us would probably be happy to hold.
That’s because despite losing a fortune, he’s still the richest man on the planet.
READ MORE: Elon Musk plans to turn real-life James Bond car he bought for $1m into electric submarine
Elon Musk’s net worth peaked in November 2021, when it briefly hit $340 billion.
His net worth nosedived in 2022 and by January 2023, Musk had lost over $200 billion.
There are two main reasons behind this wild record.
Firstly, the stock market hasn’t exactly been looking great for the last 16-18 months.
And most of Elon Musk’s net worth is tied to Tesla.
Secondly, the Twitter deal had a snowball effect on Musk’s fortune.
The South African investor and engineer first announced he wanted to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share ($42-44 billion) in the spring of 2022.
He did a sharp 180 shortly thereafter, walking away from the deal citing Twitter spam and bot accounts as the main reason for his decision.
But just a few weeks later, Musk changed his mind again after Twitter ex-CEO Parag Agrawal threatened legal action against the business mogul.
Ironically – and perhaps not surprisingly – Agrawal was the first person to be fired by Elon Musk after the takeover.
Musk began dumping his Tesla shares to fund the Twitter acquisition and his controversial leadership style contributed to the drop in value of Tesla stock.
In addition to that, Musk has been attempting to change Twitter, now X, and make it profitable with a trial-and-error method.
This hasn’t gone down terribly well with the media, investors and, in part at least, Twitter users.
On his first day as CEO of Twitter, Musk walked into the Twitter HQ carrying a sink – literally.
He then fired a few top execs and 50 percent of the staff before announcing his intention to step down as CEO.
Musk famously shares polls on Twitter to ask users about crucial decisions about his businesses, always promising he will “abide by the results”.
Elon Musk’s net worth reached its lowest point in January, when he briefly became second-richest person in the world behind LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.
At the time of writing, Elon Musk has a net worth of $248 billion, chiefly because Tesla stock has been doing well ahead of the Cybertruck launch.
Alessandro is an automotive journalist with 10 years of experience covering supercars, automotive history, emerging vehicle technology, and luxury transportation. He wrote the first article published on SupercarBlondie.com when the website launched in 2022 and has since built a reputation for insightful reporting across the automotive and transportation industries. His expertise is grounded in hands-on experience. Alessandro has driven every Tesla model ever produced, from the original Roadster to the Cybertruck, and regularly covers the latest developments in electric vehicles and automotive innovation. His passion for transportation extends beyond cars, he has even flown a Boeing 787 Dreamliner simulator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His reporting spans everything from classic American muscle cars and rare automotive discoveries to luxury yachts, private aircraft, high-end watches, and cutting-edge vehicle technology. Known for his deep knowledge of automotive history and ability to uncover the stories behind iconic vehicles, Alessandro brings readers a blend of historical context, technical expertise, and first-hand experience.
