The record for the greatest loss of personal wealth in history has been broken by Elon Musk.
He lost over $165 billion between November 2021 and December 2022, according to a blog post on the website of Guinness World Records.
Guinness noted that although the statistics were based on data from publisher Forbes, other sources suggested that Mr. Musk’s losses might have been larger.
It comes after Mr. Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla’s stock value dropped after he acquired Twitter last year.
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Investors are worried that Mr. Musk is no longer giving Tesla enough attention as a result of his $44 billion (£36 billion) acquisition of the social media business.
The sum lost by Mr. Musk since November 2021 surpasses the previous record set by Masayoshi Son, a Japanese tech investor, who lost $58.6 billion (£47 billion) in 2000.
The estimated loss is based on the value of his shares, which might increase in value again, increasing Mr. Musk’s wealth.
The CEO of French luxury goods business LVMH, which owns the fashion label Louis Vuitton, Bernard Arnault, replaced the Tesla CEO as the richest man in the world in December. LVMH is the parent company of Louis Vuitton.
In 2022, the value of Tesla shares decreased by almost 65%, in part due to Tesla’s performance. Just 1.3 million automobiles were delivered by the company throughout the year, falling short of Wall Street projections.
The majority of the share price decline, however, can be attributed to Mr. Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, where he has stirred up controversy by firing a sizable number of employees and altering content moderation procedures.
Many Tesla investors think he should be concentrating on the electric vehicle manufacturer as it is experiencing declining demand due to recessionary fears, escalating competition, and production issues related to Covid.
“Long-term fundamentals [at Tesla] are extremely strong. Short-term market madness is unpredictable,” Mr Musk tweeted after the stock markets closed for the year in December 2022.
Forbes estimates that Mr. Musk is currently worth $178 billion (£152 billion), while Bernard Arnault is worth an estimated $188 billion (£155 billion).
Source: BBCNEWS
