Losing 52 billion USD, Elon Musk is still the richest person in the world

According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, billionaire Elon Musk has lost $52 billion in net worth since the beginning of the year but is still the richest person in the world by a wide margin.

Elon Musk's current net worth is $380 billion — $144 billion more than the world's second-richest person, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk's net worth has dropped by $5.2 billion over the past week, according to the latest update to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Shares of Tesla, the company founded by Musk, fell 8% before the market closed on February 25, after steadily falling more than 20% over the past month. Tesla's market value fell below $1 trillion for the first time since November 2024.

Tesla's sales are suffering an unprecedented decline, with sales across Europe down 45% last month despite the popularity of electric vehicles there, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Increased competition, especially in China, and falling demand in the US are the main reasons for Tesla's decline this year.

However, Tesla's stock price decline represents a marked change in investor sentiment compared to November 2024, shortly after Donald Trump was elected US President.

Bloomberg said that was when Mr. Musk's net worth reached a record high of $347.8 billion, following a steady rise in Tesla's price.

Investors believe Mr Musk's influence in the Trump administration will usher in an era of deregulation that will benefit Tesla.

The fortune of Mr. Musk, Tesla’s largest individual shareholder, increased by about $83 billion from election day through the end of November last year.