The state of the head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk for the first time this year fell below $ 400 billion amid a significant decline in share prices of the company Tesla created by him. This was reported by Bloomberg agency.
It is noted that the value of shares of the automaker fell by 27% since reaching an all-time high in mid-December. Especially sharp decline was observed last week: then the price of Tesla securities fell by 11% amid reports about the reduction in sales. In particular, deliveries of cars in Germany fell by 59%, breaking the record since 2021, and sales in China fell by 11.5% compared to last year. On 10 February, Tesla’s share price fell for the fourth day in a row, losing 3% and reaching the level of $ 350.73 per paper.
The agency notes that Tesla shares and options in December accounted for more than 60% of Musk’s fortune. At the same time, after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, the billionaire began to ‘devote most of his attention’ not to business, but to politics, including the leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to Bloomberg, despite Musk’s closeness to the new US leader, investors’ hopes that the US administration will support Tesla by changing tax policy and simplifying standards for unmanned driving technology have not yet been fulfilled.
On 11 December 2024, Bloomberg stated that Musk became the first person whose fortune exceeded $ 400 billion: n The new record was provided by the sale of shares in SpaceX, which increased the fortune of the entrepreneur by $ 50 billion (to $ 439.2 billion). Trump’s victory in the presidential election also provided a boost: Tesla shares rose 65% amid expectations of simplified rules for self-driving cars and the cancellation of tax breaks for the company’s competitors. In addition, the value of Musk’s AI startup xAI doubled at the time, reaching $50bn.