(Daily Mail) Elon Musk‘s wealth dramatically nosedived by $13 billion in just 24 hours after the entrepreneur suffered a series of business blunders.
On the same day the SpaceX founder’s blockbuster rocket launch ended in a disastrous fireball, his electric car company, Tesla, reported disappointing first quarter results, with shares dropping by 9.75 percent and earnings plummeting by over 20 percent.
Musk’s failure to launch also extended to his recent acquisition of Twitter, as he sparked backlash after finally following through with his threat to remove ‘legacy’ verified blue ticks.
The billionaire’s plummeting net worth was hardest hit, however, by Tesla’s poor returns, and his $13 billion drop was his biggest loss of the year so far.
Elon Musk saw his fortune plummet by $13 billion after a series of business blunders
Despite his disastrous day, Musk still has a net worth totaling $164 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. His fortune ranks him second in the worldwide rich list, only behind French luxury brand mogul Bernard Arnault.
According to an internal email seen by the outlet, Musk told his Space X employees that he is optimistic about the venture, despite his high-profile rocket launch going up in flames.
The largest rocket to ever take off, the 395-foot behemoth was comprised of a Super Heavy booster and Starship.
But just four minutes after takeoff at 9:33 ET, the rocket dramatically exploded, abruptly ending its first orbital launch.
Space X has claimed that it purposefully activated the flight termination system to obliterate the rocket after the Super Heavy craft failed to separate, which began causing an uncontrollable death spin before it was exploded.
Despite the unideal optics of exploding the rocket as thousands of people watched on from the ground in south Texas, NASA, Musk and SpaceX have hailed the launch as a success after achieving their main objective of lifting the Starship off the launchpad.
Musk’s high-profile rocket launch was watched by thousands of people as they witnessed the 395-foot behemoth manage to get off the launchpad
