Elon Musk's estimated net worth dips below $200 billion again after low Tesla earnings

Elon Musk's net worth dropped by billions of dollars this week – dropping to $193 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index. This is the first time since June that the Tesla CEO saw his net worth dip below $200 billion. But after Tesla reported low quarterly earnings, Musk – who owns about 13% of the car company – took a hit.

Bloomberg estimates Musk has lost $41 billion since Tesla's Oct. 18 earnings call. The financial publication says his net worth was $234 billion before Tesla announced its disappointing performance. 

Forbes puts his net worth slightly higher, at $213.8 billion, but still says he recently lost about $1 billion. Still, as of Oct. 31, both publications say he is the richest person in the world. 

Net worth is an estimate based on the assets a person owns. Musk notably gained a high-profile asset last year: Twitter. But a person's net worth fluctuates alongside the performance of companies.

Musk, who founded SpaceX and the Boring Company in addition to Tesla, has stakes in these companies, which contribute to his worth.

He bought Twitter, which he has renamed X, in April 2022 for $44 billion after saying he owned a 9.1% stake and threatened a hostile takeover, Forbes reports.

The Twitter deal officially went through in October 2022 and Musk now owns 74% of the company. 

In November, his net worth dropped to an estimated $195.6 billion – hitting its lowest point in 2022, according to Forbes. It had previously seen a large dip in October 2021, when it dropped below $200 billion. 

The dip in November set a record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, according to Guinness World Records. Musk reported lost about $182 billion of his net worth since November 2021, according to Guinness, which cited Forbes. Some estimate he lost up to $200 billion, Guinness said at the time.

The 2022 dip was also attributed to poor performance of Tesla stock, which plummeted 65% in 2022, according to Guinness.

Musk's acquisition of Twitter also cost him a pretty penny. He sold nearly 8 million Tesla shares – worth $7 billion – in August 2022 as a legal battle with Twitter loomed. After Musk tried to back out, Twitter sued him to enforce the rules of their acquisition agreement and countersued. 

This dip put him at the No. 2 spot on Forbes' Real Time Billionaires list. Bernard Arnault and his family, who own luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, moved into the No. 1 spot.

But this time around, the dip has not affected Musk's rank among the wealthiest people in the world. 

According to multiple news outlets, Musk may have overpaid for X. The company valued itself at $19 billion as of Monday – about 55% less than what Musk paid last year, according to Forbes. Musk admitted to overpaying at the time, which was one of the reasons he cited for trying to back out of the deal.

Musk brought many changes to the company since he acquired it, and some users feared he might loosen policies that combat hate speech on the platform. He also rolled out a paid subscription system for users, which has been tweaked over time. He also revealed that ad sales on the platform were down 60%.

Tesla, which also greatly attributes to Musk's worth, has also faced problems this year. Last month, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit alleging White employees at Tesla used racial slurs against Black co-workers at the company's factory in Fremont, California.

In another legal battle earlier this year, Tesla's directors, who were accused of overpaying themselves, agreed to return more than $700 million to the company, according to Reuters.

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Caitlin O'Kane

Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.