Elon Musk, the CEO of the electric car company Tesla and the new owner of the social media network Twitter, has lost more money this year than any other billionaire.
Forbes estimates that most of the entrepreneur’s net worth originates from Tesla, and since the beginning of the year, Tesla stock prices have plunged by 67%, wiping off a significant portion of his fortune.
The news of Musk’s purchase of Twitter and his efforts to expose the censorious activities of past management has produced innumerable headlines this year. Evidence suggests that Tesla’s brand value is negatively affected by the outrage of consumers who lean Democratic.
The world’s second-richest man still acts as a supervisor at Tesla and SpaceX, although he has said that the teams there “are so brilliant that frequently nothing is needed” from him.
Although Musk wrote an $11 billion check to the government last year, he has been the target of constant criticism from left-leaning legislators who claim he hasn’t paid his fair share of taxes. The multibillionaire had already relocated Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas due to hostility from local authorities; Musk claimed he became increasingly angry when government lockdowns delayed the reopening of his businesses in the spring of 2020.
This year was also notable for the elimination of some well-known millionaires. Several companies severed ties with Ye (formerly Kanye West) after he made anti-Semitic comments and praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. The cryptocurrency empire built by disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried crumbled when its customers discovered that he had blended funds between the digital asset exchange and trading firm Alameda Research.
The aggregate losses of American billionaires, at $660 billion, far outpaced those of the world’s other ultra-wealthy. Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon, lost $80 billion; Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of Google, lost $40 billion apiece; and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, lost $78 billion. Similar to Musk, the losses can be attributed to underperforming stocks.
Chinese tycoons lost more money as a percentage of their fortune than their American counterparts ($620 billion vs. $480 billion). Still, the country’s economy is suffering under the weight of strict lockdown regulations and the resulting flight of international manufacturers. Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba, lost about $13 billion this year, making him one of China’s wealthiest people to lose a lot of money.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, numerous foreign nations have imposed further sanctions, costing Russia’s billionaires a total of $470 billion. Indonesian coal mogul Low Tuck Kwong made $16 billion, while Indian businessman Gautam Adani made nearly $55 billion, making him the world’s third-richest man, thanks to a banner year.
As a result of geopolitical unrest, runaway inflation, and ongoing supply chain bottlenecks, the global economy has taken a hammering, and with it, the wealth of ordinary people worldwide. According to data compiled by Fidelity Investments, IRA holdings declined by 25% year over year in the third quarter, while 401(k) balances fell by 23%.