Elon Musk, the new owner of the social media platform Twitter and CEO of automobile manufacturer Tesla, has lost more wealth than any other billionaire this year.
Forbes estimates that the entrepreneur has lost more than $115 billion since the beginning of the year, primarily because the majority of his net worth stems from Tesla, whose stock prices have fallen 67% since the beginning of the year.
Musk generated numerous media headlines this year as a result of his acquisition of Twitter and efforts to publicize former management’s censorious actions. There is evidence that reforms at the social media company are infuriating Democratic-leaning Tesla customers, diminishing the brand’s value and causing investors to be hesitant.
The second-wealthiest man in the world has stated that he still oversees Tesla and SpaceX, where he believes the teams “are so good that I am rarely needed.”
Musk is frequently mocked by left-leaning lawmakers, who accuse him of not paying his fair share of taxes despite the $11 billion check he wrote to the government last year. Musk said he grew increasingly frustrated as government lockdowns prevented the reopening of his companies in the spring of 2020. The multibillionaire had previously relocated Tesla’s headquarters to Texas due to hostility from Californian officials.
This year was also notable for the loss of billionaire status by a number of prominent figures. A number of brands severed ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, after he made anti-Semitic remarks and praised Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, while the cryptocurrency empire led by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried dissolved after users discovered that the disgraced founder had mixed funds from the digital asset exchange and trading firm Alameda Research.
American billionaires lost a total of $660 billion, surpassing the losses of ultra-wealthy individuals from other nations. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, lost $80 billion, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, lost $40 billion each, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, lost $78 billion. Similarly to Musk, the losses were caused primarily by poor stock performance.
Although losses in the United States were greater than the $620 billion suffered by Chinese tycoons, the latter group lost the most wealth in percentage terms due to the nation’s economic pressures and the resulting exodus of foreign manufacturers. Among the Chinese billionaires who lost the most this year, Jack Ma, co-founder of Alibaba, lost more than $13 billion.
Russian billionaires lost a total of $470 billion as a result of the nation’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, prompting many foreign powers to impose a new round of sanctions. However, several billionaires in developing nations had a phenomenal year: Indonesian coal magnate Low Tuck Kwong gained $16 billion, and Indian industrialist Gautam Adani gained over $55 billion, making him the world’s third-wealthiest man.
Even beyond the global elite, the average person’s wealth has plummeted as the global economy has taken a beating from geopolitical unrest, out-of-control inflation, and persistent supply chain bottlenecks. According to research from Fidelity Investments, IRA balances declined by an average of 25% year-over-year during the third quarter, while 401(k) balances declined by 23%.
