Elon Musk’s net worth falls below $400 billion

Billionaire Elon Musk’s net worth has fallen below $400 billion for the first time in two months, as Tesla Inc.’s stock plunged by double digits. The automaker’s shares have fallen 27%, after hitting an all-time high in mid-December on hopes that Musk’s close ties with President Donald Trump would boost Tesla. But so far, investor hopes that the Trump administration could boost Tesla by changing tax incentives for electric vehicles and formal standards for self-driving technology have failed to materialize.

Last week was Tesla’s worst week since early October, when the company’s shares fell 11% after reporting weak sales. Deliveries in Germany fell 59% to their lowest since 2021, while sales in China fell 11.5% amid competition from rival BYD Co. In the latest development, Tesla shares fell another 3% on Monday, marking a fourth straight decline.

Tesla shares and options account for more than 60% of Musk’s fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune peaked at $486.4 billion on Dec. 17, after the U.S. presidential election. While Tesla shares still make up the largest portion of Musk’s $394.6 billion fortune, the recent decline in Tesla’s stock value, along with record fundraising by his other companies such as xAI and SpaceX, has reduced Tesla’s contribution to Musk’s total fortune. Musk’s 42% stake in SpaceX is now worth about $136 billion.

The Wall Street Journal recently quoted Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, as saying that Musk is leading a group of investors in an offer to buy OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, for nearly $95 billion. However, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman rejected the offer on the social network X.