Bloomberg reports that Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s constant Twitter activity has sent Bitcoin prices tumbling. His own net worth is following the same downward trend.
On Monday, Musk lost his spot as the world’s second richest person to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault after Tesla shares dropped 2.2%. This was the biggest decline of the week amid tech stock volatility and signs Tesla is struggling in China.
Back in March, Musk still held the top spot on Bloomberg’s rich list. Now, his net worth stands at $160.6 billion, down 24% from its peak in January.
This comes during a chaotic period as Bitcoin fell below $45,000 for the first time in nearly three months after Musk appeared to agree with a tweet claiming Tesla sold all of its $1.5 billion Bitcoin holdings from earlier this year. Bitcoin was trading at $45,270 at 5:51 p.m. Sunday in New York, down about $4,000 from Friday’s close. However, Musk soon clarified that Tesla had not sold any Bitcoin.
“To clear up rumors, Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin.”
Last week, Elon Musk shook up the crypto market with a series of surprising moves. He caused Bitcoin to drop nearly $10,000 in just a few hours on Wednesday after announcing Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin payments.
A few days earlier, Musk appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and joked about Dogecoin, sending its price crashing. Then, he tweeted that he was working with Doge developers to improve transaction efficiency.
In early February, Musk revealed Tesla had used $1.5 billion of its nearly $20 billion cash reserves to buy Bitcoin, which immediately sent Bitcoin prices soaring.
At 49, Musk became the richest person in the world in January after Tesla’s stock surged 750% over the past year. Despite record quarterly profits, Tesla shares have since fallen amid global chip shortages and rising competition.
Musk’s net worth has dropped $9.1 billion this year, the largest loss among Bloomberg’s billionaire list.
Meanwhile, luxury mogul Arnault, 72, has seen his fortune grow by $47 billion.
