Elon Musk's net worth fell by $22.2 billion Tuesday - his fourth-largest one-day loss - as stock markets faltered on skepticism about potential tariffs and ongoing federal cost-cutting efforts.
Tesla Inc, which makes up more than half of Musk's fortune, was particularly hard hit after reports that its sales in Europe - where Musk's favorability has tumbled as he's inserted himself into domestic politics - plunged by almost half in January. Shares of the electric carmaker fell by 8.4% in New York, sending its market value below $1 trillion for the first time since November 7.
The Trump administration's most prominent policies - including federal budget cuts and tariffs - haven't yet generated the booming stock market the president promised on the campaign trail. The S&P 500 Index has dropped 3.1% over the last four trading days, and the Magnificent 7 Index, which tracks seven megacap tech companies, tumbled into a correction on Tuesday.
Musk has spearheaded the effort to cut government spending through the Department of Government Efficiency. Its website shows the department has saved an estimated $65 billion, or slightly less than 1% of the 2024 federal budget, though data shows less.
Those efforts have roiled Washington, sparking over a dozen lawsuits and leaving federal workers unclear about their job security. Earlier Tuesday, 21 DOGE workers resigned, saying in a joint letter that they would no longer "dismantle critical public services."
Trump's renewed commitment to enact tariffs on Canada and Mexico and reciprocal tariffs on other trading partners also contributed to the market selloff. Inflation expectations over the coming year increased to the highest in almost two years, while US consumer confidence fell this month by the most since August 2021.
Even with Tuesday's decline to a net worth of $358 billion, Musk is still about $100 billion richer than he was before Trump won the election in November, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Thanks to record-high funding rounds for his private companies and a blistering Tesla rally that saw it reach a record before its recent selloff, Musk's net worth reached an all-time high of $486.4 billion on December 17.
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