Elon Musk’s estimated fortune fell $33 billion after the midterms, but his lead over the world’s second-richest person remained nearly $490 billion.
Finn Gomez/Getty Images
Elon Musk’s net worth fell $33 billion in a day as Tesla and SpaceX shares slid after the midterms.
No matter, he still heads the global rich list by nearly $500 billion from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Democratic victories in Texas could bring new scrutiny to Musk’s AI plans in the state.
For most people, losing $33 billion in a day would be unimaginable. For Elon Musk, it barely makes a dent.
Musk’s net worth sank by that amount on Wednesday as Tesla and SpaceX shares slid after the US midterm elections.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss was worth $865 billion as of Wednesday’s close, per Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index. His nearest rival, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, was worth $375 billion, leaving Musk $490 billion ahead.
In other words, Musk could lose the equivalent of Bezos’ entire fortune and still be the richest person on the planet by $115 billion.
His huge stakes in both SpaceX and Tesla mean that Musk is worth more than Bezos and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin — who sit in 3rd and 4th spots on the rich list — combined.
Those stakes also mean he’s more likely to see his net worth fluctuate by eye-watering amounts as the companies’ share prices rise and fall.
Tesla and SpaceX shares each dropped more than 3% on Wednesday, wiping close to $100 billion from their combined market value.
The sell-off followed a costly political defeat. Musk spent at least $446 million supporting Republican candidates and groups ahead of the midterms, including about $224 million backing Republicans in Texas. Voters there instead elected Democratic candidates James Talarico to the Senate and Gina Hinojosa as governor.
The results could have consequences for Musk’s businesses beyond a single trading day, given that both are headquartered in the state and have significant operations there.
Tesla’s main US manufacturing plant, or Gigafactory, is based just outside Austin , and plans are in place to build Terafab, Musk’s chip factory, nearby. SpaceX also launches Starship from its Starbase facility.
Hinojosa has pledged an immediate moratorium on new data centers, while Democratic control of Congress could bring closer scrutiny of technology companies.
Musk responded on X by joking that his “election-interfering space lasers” had failed. He added that SpaceX’s plans to build data centers in orbit looked “pretty appealing right now” after the Democratic victories in Texas.
His net worth is set to fall further on Thursday, with shares in both Tesla and SpaceX lower once again in premarket trading.
Read the original article on Business Insider
