Elon Musk’s wealth shrinks by $23 billion after Tesla earnings slip
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Mr Elon Musk, who is the richest person on the planet with a fortune of US$209 billion (S$287 billion), owns 13 per cent of Tesla.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
New York – Billionaire Elon Musk’s fortune slumped by US$16.7 billion (S$23 billion) on Thursday after Tesla’s weak third-quarter earnings weighed on shares.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest person with a fortune of US$209 billion, owns 13 per cent of Tesla and derives the majority of his wealth from the auto company.
Tesla shares fell 9.3 per cent to US$220.11 in New York on Thursday after the company missed both earnings and sales expectations for the quarter.
In a conference call following the earnings release on Wednesday, Mr Musk repeatedly mentioned the toll of high interest rates on consumer confidence.
The electric-vehicle juggernaut reported its first quarterly fall in sales in 2023, delivering 435,059 vehicles, while margins fell to the lowest in over four years after the company repeatedly cut prices for its cars.
Still, Mr Musk’s wealth is up by more than US$70 billion in 2023 alongside a rebound in Tesla shares, despite the deteriorating fundamentals.
After briefly being overtaken by luxury group LVMH’s chairman Bernard Arnault, he is once again the world’s wealthiest person by a wide margin.
Despite its struggles, Tesla maintains that it will put 1.8 million customers into new vehicles by the year end.
Tesla remains the most valuable vehicle producer in the world and said it will deliver its first long-awaited Cybertrucks in November, about two years behind schedule. BLOOMBERG
