(UnitedVoice.com) – In the fall of 2022, the sale of Twitter finally went through. Elon Musk became the proud owner of a dysfunctional social media platform. The billionaire had big plans for the company when he bought it, but that’s taking some work.
While Musk dealt with his new purchase, one of his other companies was experiencing difficulties. Tesla stock plummeted. Now, the tech billionaire has set a new record — but it wasn’t exactly a good one.
Guinness World Record
On January 6, Guinness World Records announced Musk broke the record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history. Since November 2021, the tech giant has seen his net worth reduced by more than $180 billion. In 2021, the Tesla founder was worth $320 billion. However, in early January 2023, it had fallen to an estimated $138 billion.
Musk’s declining net worth caused him to go from being the world’s richest man to the second most wealthy person globally. The title now goes to Bernard Arnault, the founder and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, with a net worth of $164 billion.
Prior to Musk, the holder of the greatest loss of wealth was Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son. He saw his net worth crash by an estimated $58 billion in the dotcom bust in 2000.
Financial Troubles
Musk spent $44 billion to buy Twitter. He tried to pull out of the deal after making it, but the company sued him. Ultimately the billionaire decided to go through with the sale. The new Twitter owner had to take quick action to turn the company around. In 2021, it had a net loss of $221.4 million.
Twitter wasn’t the only business that suffered. According to Bloomberg, Tesla stock was down 39% from December 1. Musk began dumping the company’s stock to fund his purchase of Twitter. As of mid-December, he’d sold $23 billion worth of stock.
Musk’s massive sale of Tesla stocks concerned the company’s stakeholders. Additionally, the time he spent at Twitter frustrated them. One of the electric car manufacturer’s biggest stockholders, Leo KoGuan, has attacked Musk for his absence at Tesla. In a December 14 tweet, he said the company “needs and deserves to have a working full time CEO.” He accused the billionaire of abandoning it.
Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO
Tesla needs and deserves to have working full time CEO
What Tesla BOD should do, do nothing? Elon will find his own successor under BOD independent supervision https://t.co/AJSvij9ncP
— KoGuan Leo (@KoguanLeo) December 14, 2022
The Tesla founder has promised to share the fruits of his labor at Twitter with the electric car company’s investors. He tweeted, “I will make sure Tesla (TSLA) shareholders benefit from Twitter long-term.” That has left some wondering how he would do that.
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