Elon Musk’s net worth falls below $200bn; Investors dump Tesla shares as he becomes ‘more focused on Twitter’

As Twitter takes up more and more of Elon Musk’s attention, concerned Tesla Inc. shareholders sold their shares, bringing the billionaire’s net worth below $200 billion.

Reportedly they dumped their shares of the firm out of concern that Musk, the company’s chief executive and main shareholder, is becoming more and more focused on Twitter.

Watch | Gravitas: Twitter in a debt trap after Musk takeover?

As per Reuters, since he made his bid for Twitter in April, the company’s valuation has decreased by almost half, and his personal wealth has decreased by $70 billion.

Forbes estimates that Musk’s current net worth is $194.8 billion, with a significant portion of that coming from his approximately 15 per cent ownership in Tesla, which has a market value of $622 billion.

Meanwhile, Musk has sold 9.5 million Tesla shares worth $4 billion, according to the US Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The SEC documents revealed on Tuesday show Musk, who financed much of his Twitter purchase with Tesla stock, has sold more than 19 million shares worth in excess of $3.9 billion, reports AFP news agency.

Also read | Twitter users may soon have to pay more than just $8 as Musk deliberates putting platform behind paywall

Musk hasn’t tweeted much about Tesla since he bought Twitter, despite the fact that this is what helped him earn followers on the platform. Instead, he announced plans for the social network via Twitter.

“It seems like Elon Musk is spending 100% of the time on Twitter and, you know, it might need more capital,” said Infrastructure Capital Management’s Jay Hatfield.

Also read | Millions of followers, blue-tick go down the drain as Twitter suspends accounts for impersonating Elon Musk

It took an equity commitment of $33.5 billion and a $13 billion loan commitment last month to close the contentious $44-billion Twitter deal.

Initially, investors fled Tesla because of concern over Musk’s stock sale — he had divested more than $15 billion in shares. Now, Wall Street as per Reuters is concerned that Musk has overextended himself, especially at a time when Tesla, the EV manufacturer is ramping up production and facing increasing competition.

(With inputs from agencies)

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