Tesla’s growing problems are already seriously hitting the pocket of its boss, Elon Musk. In less than three years, his fortune has melted by 175 billion dollars, and the main factor for this is the 66 percent collapse of the car manufacturer’s shares, writes Insider.
In November 2021, Musk topped Bloomberg’s list of the world’s richest people with a fortune of US$340 billion. That year, Tesla shares were worth $415 each.
Tesla is laying off thousands of employees
The company’s shipments fell year-on-year for the first time
They are currently trading at $142, a blow to the company’s market cap, which was once $1.2 trillion and is now less than $450 billion.
Musk owns 13% of Tesla, which makes up a large portion of his wealth. As a result, today the billionaire is outside the top three of the wealthiest – in front of him are Bernard Arnault of LVMH, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta. Musk is also the only one of the 11 richest people in the world whose net worth has declined this year.
Chinese EV makers are offering purchase incentives to get Tesla customers
Currently, the competition in the Chinese car market, which is also the largest in the world, is fierce
Tesla’s problems in recent months have been due to brutal competition in the key Chinese market, with strong domestic players such as BYD already attacking the US company’s position elsewhere in the world. At the same time, outside Asia, enthusiasm for electric cars is waning because of high prices and expensive bank financing.
Thus, Tesla is preparing to cut 10% of its employees, lowers prices, and yet deliveries are not at the pace necessary for continued growth.
