Elon Musk’s Net Worth Drops $20 Billion in a Day

Elon Musk’s Net Worth Drops $20 Billion in a Day© Chesnot / Getty Images

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) may be only one part of Elon Musk’s company portfolio, but a bad day for the electric vehicle (EV) leader is enough to bring his net worth down. Tesla announced poor second-quarter earnings, and the stock fell 8%. Musk’s net worth dropped by $19.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Revenue for the second quarter fell 12% to $22.5 billion. Automotive revenue declined 16% to $16.7 billion, while earnings attributable to common stockholders fell 18% to $0.33 a share. Musk said Tesla might have “some rough quarters” ahead. He continues to have an optimistic view of his robotaxi products.

Tesla’s stock is down 24% this year. Its market cap is $984 billion. Musk owns 13% of the company.

One reason that Musk’s wealth has not fallen further is that he has convinced many on Wall Street that Tesla is becoming a robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) company. The first major sign of this, Musk argues, is the new self-driving features highlighted in Tesla’s tests of the program in Austin, Texas. It is still too early to tell how well the system works. What is not too early to know is that he has competition. The most advanced of these is Alphabet’s Waymo, which has added 10 new test cities this year.

Other Musk Holdings

Elon Musk’s Net Worth Drops $20 Billion in a Day© Joe Raedle / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Other Musk holdings have helped his overall wealth. The largest of these is the most successful rocket maker in the world. SpaceX virtually controls the U.S. rocket business and is the leader in the industry worldwide. It has established itself as the preeminent rocket launch provider, lofting satellites, cargo, and people to space for NASA, the Pentagon, and commercial partners. It is building out a large network of Starlink satellites providing internet service. Some observers believe Musk’s faltering relationship with the president could hurt him as he seeks additional business from the U.S. government. SpaceX was recently valued at $400 billion.

Musk owns 42% of SpaceX and has 79% of the company’s voting shares. He can make decisions about SpaceX without challenge.

Among Musk’s other holdings, the most valuable may eventually be xAI, a major rival to OpenAI in the race to control the future of AI. xAI continues to raise billions, which puts its value at nearly $200 billion. Musk owns over half of xAI. The valuation of OpenAI recently hit $300 billion. Musk has merged xAI with social media company X.

Musk also has stakes in several other companies, including implantable brain-computer interface operation Neuralink.