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10th Nov 2021

Elon Musk has broken a record for losing the most wealth in two days

Kieran Galpin

Tesla

Elon Musk loses some change in the couch

After stock in Tesla plunged for 48 consecutive hours, founder Elon Musk lost $50 billion in total – but don’t worry, he is still the richest man in the world.

Musk has demonstrated his almost totalitarian sway on the stock market through Twitter. The electric car and Space X entrepreneur asked his 63.1 million followers if he should sell his 10 per cent stake in Tesla – and then news broke that his brother Kimbal had sold his shares just before the initial poll.

The real nail in the coffin was an Insider report published on Tuesday (November 9) focusing on Michael Burry – the investor made famous in director Adam McKay’s movie The Big Short – which said that Musk may want to sell shares to cover his personal debts.

The drop is the biggest two-day decline in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the second-biggest one-day fall after Jeff Bezos’s $36 billion drop following his divorce in 2019.

Musk’s decline has closed the gap a little between him and the former Amazon founder, as they are now just $83 billion apart – which is a totally relatable amount of money.

For perspective, Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management lost $750 million in Tuesday’s sell-off, while founder Larry Ellison lost a staggering $2.1 billion.

Despite the plummet, Musk’s fortune is still up 70 per cent this year thanks to the combination of Tesla earnings and a higher evaluation total of SpaceX.

In other Musk news, the innovator and the UN have been playing a game of chicken over the climate crisis.

After UN chief David Beasley called out billionaires on CNN and called for them to “step up now, on a one time basis”, Musk responded to call his bluff.

In response, Musk tweeted: “Describe on this Twitter thread exactly how $6B will solve world hunger, I will sell Tesla stock right now and do it.”

In response, Beasley tweeted: “Headline not accurate. $6B will not solve world hunger, but it WILL prevent geopolitical instability, mass migration and save 42 million people on the brink of starvation. An unprecedented crisis and a perfect storm due to Covid/conflict/climate crises.

Read the full story: UN chief calls Musk’s bluff on $6B world hunger offer

“With your help we can bring hope, build stability and change the future.

“Let’s talk: It isn’t as complicated as Falcon Heavy, but too much at stake to not at least have a conversation. I can be on the next flight to you. Throw me out if you don’t like what you hear!”

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