As stock prices of space and aviation corporations SpaceX and electric vehicle maker Tesla trace a downward curve, the wealth held by the two companies' chief, Elon Musk, has also fallen to about half in roughly a month.
According to U.S. business outlet Forbes on the 27th (local time), Musk's asset size tallied that morning was found to be $695.7 billion (about 1,019 trillion won).
This is barely about half compared with the all-time highest asset size of $1.45 trillion (about 2,125 trillion won) reached on the 16th of last month as SpaceX's share price soared day after day following its listing. It has been about seven months since the overall valuation of his wealth fell below the $700 billion mark, last seen on Dec. 18 last year.
Musk gained momentum as the first in human history whose asset aggregates surpassed $1 trillion, joining the so-called "trillionaire" ranks, but he has recently faced severe cash pressure as shares of key corporations have plunged across the board. As the situation worsened, Musk himself hinted at his bitterness on his social media (SNS), X, likening himself to a "former trillionaire."
The main factor behind the sharp drop in asset value is cited as SpaceX's stock plunge. According to market research outlet MarketWatch, SpaceX shares fell about 4% further from the previous transaction day's closing price on the morning of the day, pushed down to a record low of $108.66 per share. That is not only nearly 20% cheaper than the initial offering price of $135, but also a 52% crash compared with the intraday high of $225.64 recorded last month.
During the 13th test launch of the super-heavy spacecraft Starship carried out on the 24th, the Super Heavy booster, the stage-one propulsion system, had trouble reigniting its engines and plunged roughly into the ocean, weighing on investor sentiment. In addition, along with the first report card to be released after the initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for the 4th of next month, the lifting on the 6th of the lockup on insider-held shares could also fuel an additional stock decline, according to market observations.
In addition, Tesla, another key business of Musk and an electric vehicle manufacturer, has been seeing its stock price slide day after day after delivering results that fell short of market expectations. Tesla shares dropped 15% after it released second-quarter earnings on the 23rd, and widened losses further as they transacted around $307.92 per share on the morning of the day. As a result, Tesla's share price has fallen 30% compared with early this year, erasing the past year's gains.