Elon Musk’s estimated net worth slid over 9% on Thursday, tumbling as Democrat-dominated midterm elections sparked a tech stock rout that has dented many billionaire fortunes.
Key Facts
Musk’s estimated net worth dropped $80 billion on Thursday afternoon, falling below the $800 billion mark after he returned to trillionaire status less than a month ago.
Tesla shares slid 11.5% to their lowest point since August, while SpaceX’s stock dropped 8% to around $125 per share.
Musk owns a nearly 50% stake in SpaceX, though the billionaire noted in an August post, “A bunch of it only vests on extremely crazy good outcomes for SpaceX, so actual full vested percentage is lower.”
Thursday marks one of the largest hits ever to Musk’s net worth, which fell $80 billion in August and plummeted a whopping $350 billion in June, not long after he became the world’s first trillionaire following SpaceX’s initial public offering.
Tech Stock Selloff Impacts Other Billionaires
Dell Technologies chief Michael Dell’s fortune fell $18.6 billion on Thursday afternoon, while the estimated net worths of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg fell $11.3 billion and $9.4 billion, respectively—dropping Ellison’s from the ranks of the world’s 10 wealthiest. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dropped two spots on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, with his fortune tumbling $15 billion.
Tangent
President Donald Trump has lost over $200 million since Election Day, with shares of Trump Media & Technology Group plummeting over 11%.
Key Background
Prior to Election Day, technology and artificial intelligence were already feeling the pressure from investor concern around white-hot spending on AI and whether the commitments will ultimately turn a profit. Goldman Sachs projects major U.S. hyperscalers including Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta will spend about $800 billion this year on AI. Tech stocks are now feeling the heat from the “blue wave” that dominated the midterm elections, as the Democrat-controlled House and Senate are expected to put large tech companies in their crosshairs. Reporting from The Wall Street Journal indicates multiple companies have been preparing for congressional scrutiny, planning to curry favor with Democratic lawmakers and creating internal task forces.
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