Elon Musk lost nearly $18 billion in one day

At the close of trading on January 2, Tesla (US) shares fell 6%. This caused CEO Elon Musk's assets to evaporate by 17.7 billion USD, to 415 billion USD in just one day.

This was also the world's biggest asset loss yesterday, according toBloomberg Billionaires Index. The person with the second biggest drop in wealth was LVMH boss Bernard Arnault with $1.76 billion.

Tesla shares fell after the company announced its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 sales figures. The company sold 495,570 vehicles last quarter, up 2% from the same period a year earlier, but far behind rival BYD (China) with more than 595,000 vehicles.

Tesla sold 1.8 million electric vehicles last year, 24,000 more than BYD, reclaiming the title of the world's largest electric car maker. However, sales in 2024 fell 1% compared to 2023. This is the first time the company has recorded a decline in sales. Tesla had previously reported a nearly 50% increase in a year.

The company is facing fierce competition, not only from Chinese rivals, but also from traditional automakers such as General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Kia. Although these automakers' sales are only a fraction of Tesla's, the threat from them will only increase.

As demand for electric vehicles has fallen, Tesla has responded by cutting prices, both in the US and in China. It has more room to do so than traditional automakers, which are still losing money on electric vehicles.

Despite a sharp decline in his fortune, Elon Musk remains the richest person in the world, followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($239 billion) and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg ($212 billion).

Musk has a diverse fortune. According toForbes, he currently owns 12% of Tesla and 42% of aerospace company SpaceX. The billionaire also owns more than 70% of social network X and about 60% of xAI - the artificial intelligence startup he founded.

Musk was the world’s richest person last year, adding more than $200 billion to his fortune. His fortune has skyrocketed since late October, thanks to his active support for President-elect Donald Trump during his campaign. Tesla shares were bought as investors expected the American electric carmaker to benefit from a Trump presidency. Musk’s fortune also increased in part because SpaceX’s valuation was pushed to $350 billion.