Elon Musk has made history, but probably not in a way he would have wished: the chief executive of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter has suffered the largest loss of personal fortune in history, according to the Guinness World Records.
The tech billionaire had lost approximately $165Bln as of December 2022, the record compiler announced in a blog post on its website, citing the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. However, citing other sources, the South African-born entrepreneur's losses could be nearer $200Bln.
"Though the exact figure is almost impossible to ascertain, the total far exceeds the previous record of $58.6Bln, suffered by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000," added the authority.
This comes after shares in electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, in which most of Elon Musk's fortune is tied up, plummeted 65 percent in 2022.
The decline accelerated in October, after Musk acquired Twitter for an estimated $44Bln. The tumultuous takeover was followed by a major sell-off of Tesla shares in December, driving the price down more than 36 percent.
Adding to his woes, Musk lost his "richest man in the world" status recently.
French tycoon Bernard Arnault, whose wealth stems, in greater part, from his 48 percent ownership stake in fashion giant LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), has overtaken Musk in the billionaires' ranking. Arnault, 73, has an estimated net worth of $190Bln.