Until recently, Elon Musk’s fortune was worth almost $500 billion. Today, there is no trace of it – the billionaire’s fortune has fallen below $400 billion. The main reason for this is the decline in the value of the crown jewel of his assets.
Although Elon Musk is still the undisputed richest man in the world, he may have reason to worry. According to Bloomberg, he has “lost” more than $34 billion since the end of the year alone. As recently as December, Elon Musk was celebrating — after the US elections and Donald Trump’s victory, his fortune was estimated at $486.4 billion.
How did he manage to lose so much? February has been Tesla’s worst month since October last year. The American automotive giant saw its share price drop due to weaker-than-expected sales figures. The situation is worsened by declining deliveries in key markets and increasing competition.
The reason for this is the poor sales figures for January: in Germany, deliveries fell by 59 percent to their lowest level since 2021, while in China, a key market for electric cars, sales were 11.5 percent lower than in the previous year. In the Asian market, Tesla is facing increasing pressure from local competitor BYD Co., which is steadily increasing its market share.
Musk’s political statements and Tesla’s fluctuating fortunes
Analysts point out that Elon Musk’s political activity, which has intensified since the US presidential election, is a key factor influencing Tesla’s share price. Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, the 53-year-old billionaire has devoted much of his attention to politics, engaging in extensive administrative activities.
So far, investors’ hopes that the Trump administration would support Tesla, e.g. through changes in tax subsidies for electric cars or regulations on autonomous driving technology, have not yielded the expected results. Musk, referring to autonomous driving as Tesla’s “true value,” caught the attention of analysts. In a note dated February 4, analysts at Robert W. Baird indicated that their outlook for the robotaxi segment had become more cautious after Tesla withdrew its sales volume forecasts for the fourth quarter.
Decrease in Tesla’s share of Musk’s assets
Although Tesla is still Musk’s main asset, recent declines on the stock market have reduced its share of the total. As Bloomberg notes, SpaceX, where the businessman has a 42% stake, is becoming increasingly important, making a similar contribution to his total fortune – its shares are worth $136 billion.
At the same time, Musk is investing in new projects, including the xAI research company, which is attracting record funding rounds. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the multibillionaire is also leading a consortium bidding to acquire OpenAI, the company behind the popular ChatGPT. However, the offer of almost $95 billion was rejected by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, as he confirmed on social media on Musk’s platform, X.
