:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/GettyImages-2200127810-66a58df6e2334028867650b53d83e246.jpg)
Elon Musk is known as “the world’s richest man” so steadily that you simply may suppose he trademarked the phrase. However the South Africa-born billionaire additionally holds one other distinction: the biggest loss ever of a private fortune. From late 2021 to early 2023, Musk’s web value fell from $320 billion to $138 billion, netting a lack of $182 billion.
Key Takeaways
- In response to Guinness World Information, between 2021 and 2023 Elon Musk suffered the best lack of a private fortune in historical past.
- His loss, which was on paper and due primarily to a drop in Tesla’s share value, amounted to just about $200 billion.
- Since that point Musk has recouped his losses and is believed to be the world’s richest man by a substantial margin.
How A lot Musk Misplaced
The doubtful honor of “largest loss” was conferred by Guinness World Information, based mostly on a 2023 report by Forbes. It mentioned that Musk’s web value fell from $320 billion in 2021 to $138 billion in early January 2023, a web lack of $182 billion. The most important cause for the plunge was a decline in share costs of the electrical automaker Tesla, most likely one of the best identified of Musk’s portfolio of corporations.
The almost $200 billion slide put Musk far forward of—or behind, relying on the way you have a look at it—the prior document holder. “Though the precise determine is sort of inconceivable to establish, Musk’s whole losses far surpass the earlier document of $58.6 billion, set by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000,” Guinness World Information mentioned in a Jan. 6, 2023 press launch. Son is the founder and CEO of SoftBank Group.
On the similar time, the loss price Musk one other document, that of world’s richest man—a minimum of quickly. “Musk’s misfortunes additionally noticed him lose his standing because the world’s richest particular person to Bernard Arnault (France), founding father of luxurious items conglomerate LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), who has an estimated web value of $190 billion,” the identical press launch reported.
How A lot Elon Musk Is Price At the moment
Musk now seems to be a double recordholder. He should maintain the prize for the biggest loss, and he appears to have regained his spot because the world’s richest man.
Forbes, which has established itself as a number one authority on these issues, ranks the world’s billionaires in what it calls “real-time,” adjusting the figures each day. On March 5, 2025, for instance, it put Musk’s wealth at $351.6 billion. Runner-up was Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg at $226.7 billion. Rounding out the highest 5 have been Amazon’s Jeff Bezos at $223.5 billion, Oracle’s Larry Ellison at $199.2 billion, and the aforementioned Bernard Arnault and his household at $180.6 billion.
By the point you learn this, these numbers could have modified, and the order could have shifted barely. However both Musk must lose some huge cash or another billionaire must achieve rather a lot (or some mixture of the 2) to topple him from first place.
The Backside Line
Elon Musk holds the prize for “largest lack of private fortune,” in keeping with Guinness World Information, and he could also be in no hazard of getting to present it again anytime quickly. Nonetheless, his fortunes have improved significantly within the years since, making him the world’s richest person who we all know of—and by far.