According to a blog post published by Guinness World Records, Elon Musk has now seen the largest loss of personal net worth in history, originating with the huge decline in the share price for the electric vehicle company Tesla, where he serves as CEO.
Estimates from Bloomberg put his shares in Tesla at about one-third of his overall net worth. Since early November 2021, he’s lost over $200 billion from that net worth, ending up as of Bloomberg’s Saturday numbers (which were updated Friday) with a worth of $126 billion. “Although the exact figure is almost impossible to ascertain, Musk’s total losses far surpass the previous record of $58.6 billion, set by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000,” the post from Guinness World Records added. He also lost the title of the world’s richest person according to key estimates, although he obviously still has a lot of money to his name. Tesla stock remains tumultuous amid company issues like a fine from the South Korean government equating to millions of dollars over what amounts to false advertising, including for failing to inform consumers of the drop in mileage between charges in certain low temperatures.
Tesla also instituted a shutdown in production at the end of last year at its Shanghai manufacturing plant despite previously insisting no such shutdown would take place. “Tesla’s Shanghai plant had already slowed output earlier in the month, with inventories building up rapidly despite a late-October price cut and substantial year-end incentives,” Investor’s Business Daily reported. Despite previously insisting no shutdown would happen, Tesla subsequently credited the temporary halt to planned maintenance.
Elon continues impacting his public credibility to many, including with his string of far-right posts on Twitter, the social media platform he now owns. He is also still facing scrutiny for the apparent ease with which someone would be able to create a verified account on the platform in the name of a government official. On social media platforms, verification is normally meant to indicate the claimed owner of an account is its actual owner. “Twitter’s current leadership has failed to safeguard the platform from misinformation, failed to provide answers to my simple questions regarding its anti-fraud protocols, and failed to demonstrate an appreciation for the role that their platform plays in our democracy,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said on Thursday. “Apparently, it’s easier to get a blue checkmark than it is to get a straight answer from Elon Musk. This is unacceptable.”
