Elon Musk was again dethroned as the wealthiest person on Earth less than 48 hours after he recaptured the title for himself.
His net worth dropped by around $2 billion on Thursday, bringing it down to $184 billion, putting him in second place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has surpassed LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in wealth, who is worth $186 billion, to become the world’s second-richest person.
A mere two days after Musk dethroned Arnault, the tables were turned. Many causes, including a weak economy, a slowdown in Chinese demand, Musk’s sloppy Twitter acquisition, and a general selloff in the technology sector, contributed to a 65% decline in Tesla’s share price in 2022, which led to Musk’s ouster in December.
The decline in Musk’s popularity coincides with a decline in Tesla stock; the company’s shares dropped 1.4% on Wednesday, closing at $202.77 a share. Even after the market closed on Wednesday, shares of Tesla Motors Inc. were 5.7% lower than they had been before the company’s Investor Day in Austin, Texas. Bloomberg estimates that 13% of Musk’s wealth comes from his Tesla shares, thus a decline in the stock price would have a significant impact on his wealth.
The lack of an affordable electric vehicle reveal from Tesla at Wednesday’s presentation may have dampened investor enthusiasm. The speculation in the market prior to the event was that Musk may reveal a car priced around $25,000.
Greg Bassuk, CEO of asset management firm AXS Investments, said in a note seen by Insider on Wednesday that investors were disappointed by the lack of information about new Tesla products and services at Tesla’s Investor Day.
When it came to Tesla’s intentions to remain competitive in the increasingly crowded and price-sensitive EV industry, investors were left wanting more, according to Bassuk.
Tesla stock is still up 65% so far this year despite Wednesday’s drop, thanks to rising demand and higher prices as a result of aggressive price cuts and favourable tax credit reforms in the US for electric vehicles.