Elon Musk
Credit: JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

While Elon Musk is usually in the headlines for a number of controversies on Twitter or alternatively, game-changing technological advances, no one could quite predict the latest blunder that would cripple Musk’s wealth. Today, the wealthy entrepreneur has suffered a mammoth loss on the stock markets and in turn his net worth plunged a staggering $16.3 billion USD (approx. $22.3 billion AUD) in a single day. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, it is the largest single-day wipeout in the history of the publication.

The publication cites, “The electric carmaker fell 21% in New York trading – the most ever – on news of a partnership between competitors Nikola Corp. and General Motors Co., deepening a selloff that began last week after it was snubbed for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index.”

The crash in his wealth surpasses that of May, 2020 when two tweets cost Musk $14 billion USD in market value, while his personal wealth dropped by $3 billion. At the beginning of the pandemic, it appeared that the likes of Jeff Bezos were getting richer due to in demand services and products – the third richest man in China, Zhong Shanshan, gained $30 billion after a surge in shares of the bottled-water company he founded. But no one is immune to the effects of the stock market. Bloomberg has noted that even Bezos has since lost $7.9 billion.

Musk’s worth now stands at $82.3 billion USD and makes him the fifth richest person in the world.

Stay tuned for any further developments.