According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Elon Musk has reportedly seen his net worth crash by $12.6 billion after a chaotic 24 hours for Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX.
Musk’s problems began on the morning of April 20th, with Tesla publishing disappointing first-quarter results. The EV company reported a nearly 20 percent decline in gross margins after aggressive price cuts to its vehicle lineup in recent months. This saw the company’s share price drop by 9.8 percent.
Just a few hours later, Musk’s other company, SpaceX, saw one of its test launches of the Starship spacecraft end in a self-described “rapid unscheduled disassembly.” The Starship made it off the ground in what looked to be a success before combusting into a ball of flames just four minutes after takeoff. Musk, who has a substantial 42 percent stake in SpaceX, said another test launch would take place in a few months.
As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2023
If you’re following along, that’s a 9.8 percent Tesla share price drop, and one exploded test-launch rocket, all before lunch.
To make matters worse, Thursday was not kind to Musk’s latest venture as Twitter’s CEO either. April 20th was also the day that legacy accounts across the site began to see their verified blue checkmarks disappear after Musk confirmed the change a week prior. The decision was made in an effort to get users to sign up for Twitter Blue, a subscription that costs $8 per month. Only select accounts, such as William Shatner and LeBron James, held on to their check marks after the CEO confirmed that he would be fronting the bill for select accounts with notable followings.
Final date for removing legacy Blue checks is 4/20
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 11, 2023
This decision was met with backlash from media organizations and the overall Twitter populace, with many concerned that the removal of verified accounts would lead to a spread of misinformation.
Despite a “bad day at the office” for Musk, he remains the second richest person in the world, sitting just behind Bernard Arnault. The recent loss does not eclipse the $26.8 billion dollar increase in Musk’s wealth following Tesla’s 33 percent share price rebound in January 2023.
Perhaps jokingly, the billionaire ended his day with this tweet.
Such a great day in so many ways
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2023