[Atlant]

Elon Musk breaks world record for largest loss of personal fortune in history

Elon Musk breaks world record for largest loss of personal fortune in history
The tech billionaire has reportedly lost $182bn (£150bn) since November 2021, largely due to the drop in Tesla’s share price

Elon Musk has broken the world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, according to a Guinness World Records report. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Samantha Lock
@Samantha__Lock
Wed 11 Jan 2023 22.05 EST

Elon Musk has broken the world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, according to a Guinness World Records report.

The tech billionaire has lost approximately $182bn (£150bn) since November 2021, although other sources suggest that it could actually be closer to $200bn, the report said.

“Musk’s net worth dropped from a peak of $320bn in 2021 to $138bn as of January 2023, largely due to the poor performance of Tesla’s stock,” the global records database said, citing figures obtained from Forbes.

Although the report concedes the exact figure is “almost impossible to ascertain”, it noted that Musk’s total losses “far surpass” the previous record of $58.6bn (£47bn), set by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000.

(snip)

The majority of Musk’s fortune is tied up in Tesla stock, the value of which plummeted 65% in a tumultuous 2022, the Guinness World Records report said.

The decline accelerated in October after Musk bought Twitter for roughly $44bn (£36bn), it said.

(more)

 

[Spin]

Poor guy. Only has 138 billion left. How will he survive?

 

[Atlant]

Poor guy. Only has 138 billion left. How will he survive?

There's probably some spare change lost in the seat cushions of his company car.

 

[Fahrer]

It is a real problem for the shareholders. Musk is unstable and his actions have destroyed an enormous amount of shareholder value. The Board should remove him from the position of CEO.

 

[Spin]

It is a real problem for the shareholders. Musk is unstable and his actions have destroyed an enormous amount of shareholder value. The Board should remove him from the position of CEO.

In my opinion he is crazy like a fox. Tesla sold a half million cars in the US last year, 1.3 million globally. Buy the dip.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-overtakes-bmw-top-luxury-111600282.html

 

[7S POWER]

He paid too much for Twitter and is killing him!

 

[Fahrer]

In my opinion he is crazy like a fox. Tesla sold a half million cars in the US last year, 1.3 million globally. Buy the dip.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-overtakes-bmw-top-luxury-111600282.html

Tesla is having difficulties in Europe and China. These are the two most important BEV markets. BYD and other Chinese companies are killing Tesla in China. Tesla has had to reduce prices twice recently there. Tesla growth is slowing and this is not a good sign for an "up and coming company". The VW group is substantially out-selling Tesla in Europe. Tesla is discounting there as well. I think it is because Europeans have little tolerance for low quality. Even after Tesla stock has fallen 65-70 % they are still over valued. There is no way Tesla is actually worth more than Toyota, VW, GM, Ford and others combined. I also think Tesla lacks the resources to develop new models. The Model S is 10 years old!!!! Tesla has also pretty much replaced higher priced car sales ( S and X) with lower priced cars( 3 and Y) where there is much more competition from companies that actually know how to build cars.. Not too smart.

 

[Spin]

Tesla is having difficulties in Europe and China. These are the two most important BEV markets. BYD and other Chinese companies are killing Tesla in China. Tesla has had to reduce prices twice recently there. Tesla growth is slowing and this is not a good sign for an "up and coming company". The VW group is substantially out-selling Tesla in Europe. Tesla is discounting there as well. I think it is because Europeans have little tolerance for low quality. Even after Tesla stock has fallen 65-70 % they are still over valued. There is no way Tesla is actually worth more than Toyota, VW, GM, Ford and others combined. I also think Tesla lacks the resources to develop new models. The Model S is 10 years old!!!! Tesla has also pretty much replaced higher priced car sales ( S and X) with lower priced cars( 3 and Y) where there is much more competition from companies that actually know how to build cars.. Not too smart.

You could be right but don't forget Cybertruck and Semi on the horizon..

 

[Atlant]

You could be right but don't forget Cybertruck and Semi on the horizon..

Does anyone other than Tesla fans think that the Cybertruck is going to be worth spit? I can't understand its appeal at all.

The Semi is a much more interesting question.

 

[Spin]

Does anyone other than Tesla fans think that the Cybertruck is going to be worth spit? I can't understand its appeal at all.

It's not for me because I tow large trailers over long distances but it will sell.

 

[Fahrer]

Does anyone other than Tesla fans think that the Cybertruck is going to be worth spit? I can't understand its appeal at all.

The Semi is a much more interesting question.

The Cybertruck looks like it was designed and built by high school students taking metal shop class. I don't think it will sell well at all. The Semi simply lacks enough on-board energy for long haul trucking. Hydrogen power or pantographs like being tested in Germany probably make more sense. I think one of Tesla's Semi events include the truck hauling potato chips......basically a cargo of air.

 

[Atlant]

The Cybertruck looks like it was designed and built by high school students taking metal shop class. I don't think it will sell well at all. The Semi simply lacks enough on-board energy for long haul trucking. Hydrogen power or pantographs like being tested in Germany probably make more sense. I think one of Tesla's Semi events include the truck hauling potato chips......basically a cargo of air.

I think semi tractors will eventually evolve to some sort of battery-swapping standard although I suppose developing a hydrogen infrastructure to serve long-haul trucks might make economic sense.

 

[TidingSStables]

It's not for me because I tow large trailers over long distances but it will sell.
View attachment 20077

500 miles and 1000 kWh charging capabilities.

 

[Squidward]

Does anyone other than Tesla fans think that the Cybertruck is going to be worth spit? I can't understand its appeal at all.

The Semi is a much more interesting question.

IMO, I think it is such a bizarre product. Because of the stainless steel they will all look exactly the same, and that exactly the same look is one only an attention seeker would want. Once the final pricing is in, I don’t see many selling.

 

[Eric Nay]

I read a couple weeks ago about Pepsi taking delivery, and they mentioned they would use it for hauling Frito Lay (chips, light load) over long distances and Pepsi (Heavy Load) over short distances. So yeah, there's something there to dig into. I think the electric Semi idea will work for some loads, but I'm not convinced it will work for all loads yet. Of course, electrify those routes that WILL work and THEN see if an answer pops out for the rest.

 

[Steve Jewell]

It is a real problem for the shareholders. Musk is unstable and his actions have destroyed an enormous amount of shareholder value. The Board should remove him from the position of CEO.

No!! The real problem here, with all companies that share this problem, is found in how tough it is to invest when the company is so very tied to just one guy. That always creates this potential extra volatility.

For better or worse. Elon Musk is Tesla. If you invest here you accept that no small part of your risk is with him when you invest in this company. When things are going well everyone loves the genius owner who turns all he touches to GOLD and when things start to slid we hear plenty of calls to remove or limit him.

Remove him as CEO? Hey, you could......but the resulting loss of confidence would almost certainly be catastrophic for shareholders.

Tesla's real issue here isn't Elon Musk. It's found in the disconnect between the company and it's equity valuation placed on it in daily trading of it's stock. For a very long time now, yeah just 10 years or less but still that's a long time in the world of EVs, Tesla was the name and no competitors worth motioning even existed.

We could point to Musk's ill advised walk into the cesspool of Twitter. We could point to any one of his various eccentric behaviors as a problem that has created the fall in Tesla's share price but in reality all we'd really be pointing at are reasons to suggest why it's happening more quickly than it might have if he were a little more traditional in his CEO roll.

Ultimately Tesla was almost certain to see this fall in valuation eventually anyway.

Alan Greenspan's "irrational exuberance" line comes to mind. Before the latest fall in value Tesla was valued at more than all other car companies in the world combined. Priced as if all would be competition would fail to ever happen and eventually we'd all be leaving our ICE powered cars and trucks behind in favor of a new Tesla replacement.

CRAZY RIGHT? Of Course it was....competition is going to be FIERCE going forward. Tesla is still the leader and it may even stay there for quite awhile but they are no longer the only game in town and all the big players have a crap load of EV products coming to market now and over the next couple of years.

Bottom line: this fall was coming for Tesla's valuation. Doesn't mean the company is in trouble, doesn't mean Elon Musk needs to be blamed....... it's just a simple return to reality for a lot of pretty short sighted silly investors who paid way too much and pressed the market cap of Tesla to insane valuation over the last couple of years.

Removing Elon Musk wouldn't have prevented this and removing him now or in the near future wouldn't return company to insane valuation. Even from here, after a dramatic fall, it's still easy to argue Tesla as far too richly valued vs it's actual prospects going forward.

Lesson is simple. Stock pricing can easily get pretty disconnected from the real prospects and current condition of business at any company and when a company is as hot a topic as Tesla has been.....WOW!!

 

[Eric Nay]

I muse on what a "real CEO" might do, such as if as if Herbert Diess was to take over Tesla.
1) End the Tesla/CCS plug wars one way or another.
2) Design another model of car. And another. But line up production slots for the new cars before announcing them.
3) Settle brewing culture wars between European regulators, workers, and their EU operations.
4) Ensure Americans the company was agnostic in the US Culture wars. Sell to all sides.
5) Keep the online sales model, but align with an existing company (GM?) for service centers. (Did you see that GM has already serviced 11,000 Teslas? GM Says It's Serviced Over 11,000 Teslas Since 2021 )

 

[Spin]

500 miles and 1000 kWh charging capabilities.

Towing a 20' enclosed trailer at highway speeds will cut that range in at least half. Charging will still take over a half hour. I can go almost twice as far and fill up in 5 minutes in an ice truck.

 

[TidingSStables]

I read a couple weeks ago about Pepsi taking delivery, and they mentioned they would use it for hauling Frito Lay (chips, light load) over long distances and Pepsi (Heavy Load) over short distances. So yeah, there's something there to dig into. I think the electric Semi idea will work for some loads, but I'm not convinced it will work for all loads yet. Of course, electrify those routes that WILL work and THEN see if an answer pops out for the rest.

The only choice now is pay expensive diesel or pay the rail barons monopoly.

 

[Spin]

Towing a 20' enclosed trailer at highway speeds will cut that range in at least half. Charging will still take over a half hour. I can go almost twice as far and fill up in 5 minutes in an ice truck.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Cybertruck will sell. It's just not for me.