Elon Musk has lost $200 billion in a little over a year!
San Francisco, California - No one has made – or lost – more money than Elon Musk.
The 51-year-old entrepreneur recorded an unprecedented $200-billion loss in wealth since November 2021, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk was reportedly worth $340 billion 14 months ago. He is now valued at $137 billion, which also cost him the distinction of being the world’s wealthiest man. That title now belongs to French lifestyle brand chairman Bernard Arnault, who’s worth $162 billion.
Forbes dropped Musk from the top-spot in its billionaire rankings in December.
Musk, who operates the electric car company Tesla and aeronautics business SpaceX, acquired the social media platform Twitter for $44 billion in October following a prolonged flirtation dating back to April.
The move coincided with an ongoing depreciation in Tesla stock value that some shareholders do not believe is coincidental.
Elon Musk's wealth takes a big hit
Musk joked about losing money on Twitter on the social media platform in November.
"How do you make a small fortune in social media?" he tweeted. "Start out with a large one."
The billionaire businessman has used the platform to advance his politics, which has made him largely unpopular with progressives who have denounced his alleged alignment with public figures who promote racist and misogynistic views.
Tesla recorded a 65% drop in stock value in 2022, capped off by a 44% plummet in December. Even Musk has sold billions of dollars in shares of the company as he continues efforts to make Twitter profitable.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the first person to become worth more than $200 billion in April 2021. Bloomberg puts his current worth at $107 billion. Musk is the only other person to have reached the $200 billion plateau.
He welcomed the new year Sunday on Twitter.
"One thing’s for sure," Musk predicted. "It won’t be boring."
Cover photo: JIM WATSON / AFP