Elon Musk creates new record; loses $200 billion in 13 months

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is not new to creating records. From being the first person on the Earth to cross $340 billion net worth to buying Twitter for a whopping $44 billion to vowing to put humans on Mars, Musk wears many hats. This time, however, he has created a record that may not make him prouder -- he's become the first person to lose $200 billion in net worth in just 13 months.

Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive of luxury goods maker LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, replaced Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the world’s richest person last month as the stock price of the latter's EV company Tesla saw a consistent decline in 2022, falling 11% on December 27 alone.

The overall decline in Tesla's share price, which was once Wall Street's highest-flying stock, amounts to 69.20% in the past year. Interestingly, even after shedding more than two third of its value -- thanks to its unprecedented rise in 2020 and 2021 -- Tesla's stock market value at $389 billion is still higher than some of the global auto giants like Toyota, General Motors, Stellantis NV and Ford.

As per the current stock value, the Tesla CEO’s net worth has fallen to $137 billion on Tuesday, following a selloff in the electric carmaker’s stock. To calm fears around the dipping value of Tesla stock, Musk in a company wide email last week, said Tesla needs to demonstrate continued excellent performance. He said in the "long-term, I believe very much that Tesla will be the most valuable company on Earth."

"Btw, don’t be too bothered by stock market craziness. As we demonstrate continued excellent performance, the market will recognize that. Long-term, I believe very much that Tesla will be the most valuable company on Earth!" he said.

Musk is now a few billion dollars wealthier than the third richest man in the world, Adani group chief Gautam Adani, whose net worth stands at $121 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. The Ahmedabad-based tycoon’s fortune has soared $48 billion this year, making him the biggest gainer year-to-date.

Musk's net worth touched new highs in 2022 after becoming the world's richest person in January 2021 when his net worth touched $185 billion. Amid the Tesla stock rout, Musk’s stake in SpaceX has become a silver lining for his fortune. The SpaceX founder owns a $47 billion worth stake in the private company.

Musk had initially proposed to buy out Twitter in April 2022. He later tried to get out of the deal, citing Twitter's inability to provide data on spam accounts. However, Musk again proposed to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share in October, reversing his stand on abandoning the deal and likely avoiding a contentious courtroom battle. The billionaire has sold over $15 billion in Tesla shares — about $8.5 billion in April, then another $6.9 billion in August — to raise funds for the Twitter acquisition.

The Tesla stock closed 1.12% up at $123.18 on Monday.