Elon Musk, Tesla Inc.’s chief executive officer lost his spot as the world’s second-richest person to LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault as the electric vehicle-maker’s shares fell 2.2% amid fresh signs of trouble in its China business.
Musk, who held the top spot in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as recently as March, now has a fortune of $160.6 billion, down 24% from its January high
The drop follows a turbulent period for Musk, who sent Bitcoin tumbling as much as 15% last week after posting a statement on Twitter that Tesla was no longer accepting the digital currency as payment.
Musk also helped to whipsaw Dogecoin prices after tweeting he’s working with developers of the Shiba Inu-themed token to improve transaction efficiencies.
BITCOIN CRASH
Over the weekend, Musk wreaked havoc on Bitcoin after he implied that Tesla may sell or has sold its Bitcoin holdings before later clarifying in a tweet Monday that the company had done no such thing.
To clarify speculation, Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2021
Musk, 49, became the world’s richest person in January after Tesla’s shares surged almost 750% last year amid a boom in technology-driven stocks. Despite reporting record first-quarter profit, the Palo Alto, California-based company’s shares have since fallen by about a fifth amid a global semiconductor shortage and increasing competition from traditional automakers.
Musk’s fortune has dropped about $9.1 billion this year, the most among U.S.-based billionaires according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.
Meanwhile, Arnault, 72, has added the most, with his net worth climbing by almost $47 billion to $161.2 billion as sales of his firm’s luxury goods surge in China and other parts of Asia.