Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
The first three months of the year have been eventful for billionaire Elon Musk, with the Tesla CEO becoming the de facto head of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) of the Donald Trump administration and spearheading what he calls a push for efficiency.
These three months have also seen Tesla's stock drop by almost half since its December 2024 high of $479.86 per share, when the company had a market capitalization of $1.5 trillion.
At the time, Musk, the world's richest man, had a net worth of $464 billion.
He still remains the world's richest man as of writing this. Only this time, he's almost $145 billion poorer, with a current net worth of $319.6 billion.
For perspective, $145 billion is greater than the individual GDPs of 122 countries, roughly twice the size of India's defence budget for FY2025-26, and roughly six times the annual budget of NASA.
Yet, Musk remains far ahead of the competition: to be particular, almost $110 billion ahead of the second-richest man, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
What's behind Musk's (mis)fortunes?
A vast chunk of Elon Musk's wealth (around 75 per cent as per 2020 estimates) comes from Tesla stock, and expectedly, fluctuations in the share price of the electric vehicle maker have a significant impact on the billionaire's net worth.
Over the past three months, several factors have affected Tesla stock, including declining vehicle sales and profits, protests against Musk's political activities, and investor concerns about political distractions for the world's richest man.
Is Musk at risk of losing the 'richest man' tag?
The Tesla CEO is no stranger to fluctuations in his fortunes and has still managed to retain the top spot.
In fact, in 2023, Musk scripted a Guinness World Record after losing $182 billion of his net worth between November 2021 and December 2022, the biggest loss of personal fortune ever recorded in human history.
Musk's rebounds show that he is indeed capable of sailing through financial turbulence, but if reports are to be believed, experts think this time may be different.
With the mercurial billionaire now having to attend to Tesla, X, SpaceX, as well as his DOGE activities and political commitments, it remains to be seen whether he can steer Tesla through its current crisis.