Elon Musk is no longer the world’s 2nd-richest person after Tesla shares lost a quarter in value since January
- Elon Musk fell from his rank as the world’s second-richest person to third place on Monday.
- LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, with a fortune of $161.2 billion, overtook the Tesla billionaire.
- Tesla’s stock has tumbled 24% from its January high, causing a 35% drop in its market cap.
Elon Musk lost his position as the world’s second-richest person on Monday after Tesla’s shares fell another 2.2%, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
He has been unseated by luxury goods tycoon, LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault. Both billionaires are currently set apart by a few millions on the list of the world’s wealthiest people.
Arnault has amassed a fortune of $161.2 billion, while Musk’s has fallen to $160.6 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Musk’s drop in his wealth is a direct consequence of Tesla’s stock falling 24% from its January high. The EV-maker’s shares spiked to an intraday high of $900 in late January, but has since slumped by more than a third to around $580 per share.
The company’s market capitalization has dropped to below $560 billion from a peak of almost $870 billion. It has been facing PR issues in China that hurts its monthly sales, according to Wedbush.
Musk had nabbed the top spot on the list in January after Tesla shares skyrocketed amid a boom in technology stocks.
The Tesla boss was already having an eventful week in markets after his bitcoin U-turn triggered a wipeout of around $500 billion from the crypto market. Bitcoin stabilized after he clarified Tesla hadn’t sold any of its crypto holdings. His suggestions on how to improve the technical efficiency of dogecoin spurred small increases in the price of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency.
“Tesla is the poster child of the low or no earnings equity movement that has worked incredibly well, as markets saw ever-increasing central bank liquidity through 2020,” said Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone, adding that when Tesla moves, it can become a momentum and trend juggernaut.
“That time is over, at least for now it seems, and in a world where market participants are debating the timing around a reduction in the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program, and other central banks are already tapering theirs, the market has moved from high growth stocks to value.”
Tesla’s shares closed at $576.83 on Monday, but were last trading 0.2% higher in Tuesday’s pre-market at $578.29 per share.