Due to the Ukraine Crisis and Fed Tightening... 'Richest Person' Musk's Wealth Falls Below $200 Billion

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
[Photo by Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] As geopolitical risks expand due to the Ukraine crisis and the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) announcement of interest rate hikes shakes the market, the fortune of Elon Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of Tesla, has fallen below the $200 billion (approximately 240 trillion won) mark.

On the 23rd (local time), Bloomberg reported that Musk's fortune stood at $198.6 billion as of that day, down $13.3 billion from the previous day. Most of Musk's wealth is tied to Tesla shares, which have fallen for four consecutive trading days, hitting their lowest level since September last year.

Although Musk still holds the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his fortune has decreased by $71.7 billion just this year. Bloomberg noted that this decline is larger than the combined losses experienced by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon ($169.5 billion), Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH ($155.5 billion), and Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft ($122.4 billion), who rank second to fourth respectively.

Tesla's stock price peaked at $1,229.91 in November last year, dropped to the $800 range on December 20 of the same year, then rose again to $1,199.78 in early January this year, showing fluctuations, but has been on a downward trend this month. Consequently, Musk's fortune reached an all-time high of $340.4 billion in November last year.

Bloomberg stated, "The $200 billion club has lost its last member due to Elon Musk's wealth decline." Besides Musk, Jeff Bezos is the only other billionaire who has held wealth exceeding $200 billion. Bezos maintained a fortune above $200 billion from April to December last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.