The Tesla CEO’s fortune is estimated at $181 billion.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
san francisco Tesla boss Elon Musk is no longer the richest person on earth. He had to give up the title to the CEO of the luxury group LVMH, Bernard Arnault. This was reported by the US magazine Forbes.
As of Monday, Forbes put the 51-year-old Musk’s fortune at $181 billion. Forbes, on the other hand, reported the assets of 73-year-old Bernard Arnault at $186 billion. For several days, the two billionaires have repeatedly replaced each other at the top of the Forbes list.
The main reason for Musk’s downgrade was the collapse in the valuation of electric car maker Tesla. The company’s shares had lost more than six percent in value on Monday alone. Musk currently owns around 14.11 percent of the shares in Tesla, according to the analysis house FactSet.
Musk’s net worth fell below $200 billion on Nov. 8 as several investors sold their Tesla shares. A key concern for investors is Musk’s role on Twitter.
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At the end of October, Musk bought the text messaging service for $44 billion, funded by $13 billion in loans and a $33.5 billion equity commitment. Musk himself had admitted that the price was probably higher than the current value of the company.
Musk owns 40 percent of the shares in the rocket company SpaceX. The company was valued at $125 billion in June 2022. However, his net worth is down about $70 billion since he bid for Twitter in April.
Musk has at least temporarily assumed the role of CEO on Twitter. Since buying the short message service, he has laid off more than half of the company’s 7,500 employees. Several studies have suggested that hate speech on the platform has skyrocketed since Musk took over Twitter. A number of advertisers then stopped their engagement on Twitter.
Twitter appears to be tying up Musk’s complete attention, and that’s a problem for Tesla, said Wedbusch Securities analyst Dan Ives. “Ultimately, Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk,” Ives said. The many controversies that Musk produces on Twitter also radiated to Tesla.
There is also concern that Musk could sell more Tesla shares to offset losses on Twitter. “Any black eyes on Musk will be reflected in the eyes of the stock market in Tesla stock,” Ives said. “This is supported by the fact that Tesla shares have fallen by 26 percent since the Twitter deal was officially closed.”
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