Elon Musk’s Twitter antics continue to haunt the world’s (formerly) richest man. According to the latest reports, the Tesla chief has just lost his top spot in the list of the world’s wealthiest men. The much-hyped Twitter takeover is being seen as a major factor behind a drop in the value of Tesla’s shares, many of which were held by Musk.
Currently, Bernard Arnault tops the list of the world’s richest men. He is the chief executive, co-founder, and chairman of the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton group, also called the LVMH group. Headquartered in Paris, it is the world’s largest luxury goods company. Arnault is worth $188 billion, while Musk’s net worth has now dropped to $178 billion. The latter’s Twitter takeover in October cost him a reported $44 billion.
Musk made an offer in April to acquire Twitter after buying a stake in the social network earlier this year. He pulled out of this deal in July amid his concerns over Twitter’s fake accounts. To hold Musk to his offer, the social network’s executives had to take legal action against him. It impacted the share price of Tesla in a big way.
Elon Musk, who became synonymous with Tesla over the years, has also lost several fans owing to his recent antics. He sold Tesla shares worth billions of dollars to fund his Twitter acquisition. This brought down the value of the company’s shares considerably. There has also been a growing concern among investors that the demand for Tesla’s electric cars may also go down owing to the weakening economy and tougher competition from other brands.