Elon Musk Lost $170 Billion in Past Year as Tesla Stock Hammered

Yet the 51-year-old remains the richest man in the world

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Elon Musk, one of the biggest global success stories of the 21st century, is no stranger to colossal failure in 2022.

Musk remains the richest man in the world with a net worth of $169.8 billion, according to Bloomberg and its Billionaires Index.

But Musk, 51, has lost $170.2 billion in the past calendar year after taking a $8.6 billion hit Monday.

For 2022, he’s down $100.5 billion after reaching a personal-best $340 billion a little more than a year ago, Bloomberg reported.

Shares of Musk’s Tesla, which make up most of his wealth, are trading at their lowest level since November 2020, thanks to a string of challenges for the electric-car maker. Those include supply-chain problems and high material costs, COVID-related issues in China, and a taillight recall that affected more than 300,000 cars.

As a result, Tesla shares have plummeted 57.52% in the past year. After dropping 6.8% in New York trading Monday, TSLA rebounded slightly Tuesday to close up 1.22% at 169.91.

But Musk’s attention has, of course, been elsewhere after he bought Twitter for $44 billion in October.

And as it’s required to be, Tesla has been transparent about the situation, saying in an SEC filing that it adds risk for the company’s investors: “Although Mr. Musk spends significant time with Tesla and is highly active in our management, he does not devote his full time and attention to Tesla.”

Twitter meanwhile is struggling to find a significant revenue stream after major advertisers have fled. As Musk has toyed with fees for verified users and other wholesale tweaks, he has also lost about 60% of its work force since taking the reins. 

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