Elon Musk Loses Record $50B Wealth In 2 Days As Tesla Stock Crashes Following Twitter Poll

Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO and the world’s richest person Elon Musk has lost a record $50 billion this week after the electric vehicle maker’s shares tumbled for the second straight day on Tuesday, according to a report by Bloomberg.

What Happened: The plunge in Tesla’s shares came following a Twitter poll from Musk, asking his followers whether he should sell 10% of his shares in the company.

Musk’s net worth now stands at $323 billion. Amazon.com Inc. AMZN founder Jeff Bezos follows Musk in second position with a net worth of $201 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.  

Musk’s $50 billion loss is the biggest two-day decline in the history of the index. The $35 billion loss registered by Musk on Tuesday is also the biggest one-day fall after Bezos’s $36 billion loss following his divorce from MacKenzie Scott in 2019, as per Bloomberg.

See Also: Tesla Keeps Dipping, But So What? Here's Why The Dip Might Be A Great Opportunity

Why It Matters: Musk surpassed Bezos as the world’s richest person this year, thanks to the surge in Tesla’s stock following impressive quarterly earnings results and delivery numbers. The stock’s year-to-date returns stand at 40.3%.

Musk beneficially owned about 22.4% of the shares in Tesla as of Dec. 31, 2020, according to a regulatory filing by the company in February.

In late October, Tesla joined the club of a select few companies valued at more than $1 trillion following news that the company landed its biggest ever order from car rental car company Hertz Global Holdings HTZZ.

Tesla’s stock is also seeing high interest from retail investors.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed almost 12% lower in Tuesday’s regular trading session at $1,023.50.

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Photo: Courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr