After Tesla shares plunged for the second consecutive day, Elon Musk has already lost $50 billion.
This is the largest two-day drop in the history Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the biggest one day fall since Jeff Bezos's $36 Billion plunge in 2019 after his divorce from MacKenzie Scott.
The Tesla saga comes amid turbulent days for the automaker. The rout began when Musk asked his followers on Twitter whether he should sell 10%. It was followed by the news that Kimbal had sold shares right before the poll. The Insider report Tuesday morning about Michael Burry, an investor who was made famous in the movie "The Big Short," said that Musk might want to sell shares to pay off his personal debts.
This drop reduces Musk's lead to Bezos, who is now the world's wealthiest person at $83 billion. Musk was able to surpass Amazon.com founder Bezos for the title in January. The gap between them has widened to $143 billion. This is more than Bill Gates' net worth.
Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management, whose money has been selling Tesla shares over the past few month, lost more that $750 million in Tuesday’s saleoff while Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle Corp., lost $2.1billion.
Despite the slump Musk's fortune is still up 70% thanks to Tesla's gains due to strong earnings growth, delivery numbers and a higher valuation of SpaceX. Tesla's market capitalization is above $1 trillion. This benchmark was achieved after the company's third quarter results outperformed market expectations. Hertz Global Holdings Inc. also placed an order to purchase 100,000 Tesla cars.
--With Jack Witzig's assistance
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