Musk loses $140bn in 2022, Tesla shares collapse

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Tesla shares have plummeted by $140 billion in 2022 as Elon Musk's fortune has dropped. Despite the steep drop, Musk's $130 billion fortune still makes him the second richest person in the world as of 28 December.

First place goes to tycoon Bernard Arnault, co-founder and CEO of LVMH. His fortune is estimated at $163 billion. Indian businessman Gautam Adani is in third place with $116 billion. Analysts predict that by the end of the year, Ilon Musk's net worth will be around $140 billion as Tesla's share price continues to fall.

Earlier this year Musk was firmly at the top of the billionaire list, but a 68 per cent drop in Tesla shares since the start of the year has done the trick. Since Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter at the end of October, Tesla shares have fallen 50 per cent compared to the Nasdaq 100's fall of just 3 per cent. Musk also sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to fund the Twitter acquisition.

According to Bloomberg, Musk's stake in SpaceX now remains his most valuable asset worth $47 billion. Meanwhile, Musk's stake in Tesla is worth about $40 billion and his options in Tesla are worth another $28 billion, according to Bloomberg.

The next most valuable asset Musk owns is Twitter, which Bloomberg estimates is worth $20 billion.