Elon Musk lost $123 billion this year as Tesla’s shares tanked. But he still has a lot of money left

His net worth tumbled $7.7 billion on Tuesday after Tesla shares had their steepest one-day loss since October.

The selloff adds to the woes of Musk, who lost his status as the world’s richest person to luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault on Dec. 13. Musk’s losses for the year now total $122.6 billion, exceeding the amount he gained in 2021 when his fortune soared to rank among the biggest in history. The Tesla chief executive officer’s net worth is now $147.7 billion, the lowest in more than two years, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Musk’s fortune is primarily comprised of Tesla stock and options. The automaker’s spiraling shares pose a particular risk for Musk, 51, who leveraged more of his position to finance his acquisition of Twitter in October. 

Tesla shareholders have expressed increasing alarm over Musk’s preoccupation with Twitter, which he’s attempting to lead through a messy and public turnaround. He posted a poll on Twitter asking users to vote whether he should step down as head of the social platform. Almost 58% of the 17.5 million respondents said he should.