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Elon Musk loses billions in net worth after a hectic 24 hours

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.

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.

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.

Source: Bloomberg Via: The Verge

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Elon Musk personally pays for some Twitter Blue verification badges

Earlier today, Thursday, April 20th, Twitter went ahead with what it had been planning for a while. It got rid of almost all legacy verified checkmarks.

I say “almost all” because some notable accounts that were originally legacy verified still have the Blue checkmark on their accounts with the prompt “This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” The interesting thing, however, is that some of these accounts haven’t paid for Twitter Blue.

First spotted by The Verge, one such celebrity is LeBron James, who has been a vocal critic of Twitter’s paid verification system, insisting that he will not pay the Twitter Blue fee. In a statement given to The Verge, James’ media advisor confirmed that the NBA star had not paid the monthly fee for Twitter Blue.

It was later revealed that Twitter CEO Elon Musk himself is “paying for a few [accounts] personally.”

Other notable celebrities in the same boat as LeBron include author Stephen King and rapper Ice T. Both of them have been vocal about not paying a monthly fee to be verified on Twitter, and yet, they retain their badge. “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t,” wrote Stephen King, while Ice T wrote “The fact that we’re even discussing Blue Check marks is a Sad moment in society. Smh lol.”

It is currently unknown how many other celebrities have received a free verification badge courtesy of Elon Musk, though it is certain those vocal about not paying for Twitter Blue, and yet receiving the Blue badge would speak out soon.

Source: The Verge