Elon Musk’s assets evaporated by 116 billion USD, how much is left?
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and CEO of Tesla, has seen his fortune plummet as Tesla shares have lost more than 40% of their value, largely due to a weakening stock market and the impact of new tax policies from the Trump administration.
According to Forbes’ real-time statistics, as of 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Elon Musk’s fortune had dropped by $ 6.5 billion to $348.3 billion. Compared to the record of $464 billion on December 17, Musk has lost a total of $115.7 billion.
Tesla shares have been falling steadily since then, now trading below $280 a share, their lowest level since Election Day. The main reason is a weakening stock market , with the S&P 500 down 1.7% as Trump’s tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico take effect.
To put the magnitude of the decline into perspective, Musk’s $116 billion loss is larger than the total fortune of Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, the world’s 10th richest person with $116.5 billion. Musk’s fortune has evaporated by one and a half times that of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest person, with a fortune of $85.6 billion.
Still, Musk remains the richest person on the planet, and is now worth about $83.3 billion more than he was on Election Day. That’s partly because the valuations of his private companies, like SpaceX and xAI, continue to rise.
Elon Musk’s fortune plummets
Tesla is one of the companies most affected by US tariff policies. China is Tesla’s second-largest market, while the carmaker also relies heavily on imported components from Canada to produce cars.
Tesla’s chief financial officer, Vaibhav Taneja, warned in January that the new tariffs would impact the company’s operations and profits, as Tesla remains dependent on a global supply chain for all aspects of its business.
In addition, Tesla shares are also under pressure from the general decline in the technology market and global economic uncertainty.
Tesla shares surged after the election as investors believed Musk’s nearly $300 million contribution to Trump and the Republican Party would benefit Tesla, and that looser regulations could help Tesla develop its self-driving technology more quickly.
However, that rally only lasted until mid-December, before the market began to correct. While Tesla is still up 10% since Election Day, that’s a fraction of the 91% gain Tesla had through December 17.
