NEW YORK: Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk saw his net worth drop by about $87 to $90 billion on Wednesday after shares in his rocket company SpaceX fell more than 13 per cent following the firm’s first quarterly results as a listed company.
According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, Musk’s fortune stood at around $694 billion by the close of trading on August 5. Bloomberg’s index put the figure near $687 billion. Both trackers recorded a single-day decline of roughly $89.6 billion, or more than 11 per cent.
SpaceX shares closed at $108.27, down 13.61 per cent from the previous day’s close of $125.33. The company reported strong revenue growth of 92 per cent to $7.8 billion for the second quarter, but also posted a net loss of $541 million and capital spending of $18.4 billion, much of it linked to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Investors reacted sharply to the high spending figures.
The stock had risen nearly 9.5 per cent a day earlier, so the two-day net change was less severe than the Wednesday drop alone. Musk’s wealth remains heavily tied to his large stake in SpaceX, with Tesla holdings making up a smaller share.
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Musk had briefly become the world’s first trillionaire in June after SpaceX went public. His fortune peaked near $1.3 to $1.45 trillion before a sharp correction brought it back below the trillion-dollar mark within weeks. Even after the latest decline he continues to rank as the richest person in the world by a wide margin.
Market observers note that Musk’s net worth is highly sensitive to daily swings in SpaceX and Tesla share prices, and the figures remain paper valuations that change with the market.
