Tesla CEO Elon Musk, once the world’s richest man, has broken a Guinness world record for the largest loss of personal wealth in history, losing up to $200 billion since 2021, the publication acknowledged on Friday.
The electric vehicle magnate has lost $182 billion since November 2021, according to Forbes, though other sources have estimated his losses as high as $200 billion. Tesla’s dismal market performance was the primary cause of Musk’s fiscal misfortunes, as the billionaire has most of his money invested in the company.
The record was previously held by a Korean-Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur Masayoshi Son, who had seen around $60 billion of his net worth wiped out at some point during the 2000 Dotcom crash.
“And don’t worry, even though Musk has lost more money than any human in history, he won't be going hungry any time soon – he’s still the world’s second-richest person,” the record-tracking organization quipped in a blog post.
Bernard Arnault, the French founder of luxury brand powerhouse LVMH, has replaced Musk at the top of Guinness’s listings as the world’s richest man, boasting a net worth of around $190 billion.
Tesla stock has lost 65% of its value over the course of the past year, with Musk contributing to the slump himself after selling off Tesla shares to pay for his $44 billion purchase of Twitter and triggering the largest sell-off since the company went public in 2010.
Despite these dire numbers, however, Musk’s public statements suggest he is optimistic about his car company’s future – even as investors accuse him of getting distracted by Twitter. Tesla is “executing better than ever,” he said last month, reassuring investors that “long-term fundamentals are extremely strong” even if “short-term market madness is unpredictable.”