Elon Musk achieves $100 billion rebound in 2023 after $182B loss in 2022

It’s been a good year for the Musk man.

Sejal SharmaPublished: Dec 29, 2023 08:48 AM EST

Elon Musk has had an eventful year.

As 2023 comes to an end, the 52-year-old Tesla chief has come out on top as the world’s richest person even amid a year marked by formidable economic challenges, as reported by the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Musk’s financial standing witnessed a notable augmentation, experiencing a surge of $101 billion. The credit goes to Tesla, the burgeoning success of which is owed to the unprecedented growth in its stock value propelled by record-breaking deliveries and global reach.

Preeminent figure on the global wealth scale

Tesla’s market capitalization currently stands at $831 billion, growing upwards from $388.97 billion in 2022, as per Companies Market Cap.

Musk’s SpaceX, one of many businesses owned by the billionaire, also attained thriving success through space missions and lucrative contractual agreements, with a current valuation of $175 billion.

Musk’s forays into ventures such as Neuralink and The Boring Company have captivated widespread attention and have invited substantial investment. But not all of his ventures have had a good year.

The unpredictable billionaire

Musk controversially acquired X, formerly known as Twitter, last year. The microblogging website, which has been rebranded since to ‘an everything app,’ has had a massive dip in its valuation, majorly owing to a mass exodus of ad revenues ever since he took over in 2022.

The financial obligations stemming from loans have left X with a substantial debt, reaching approximately $13 billion, with an annual interest payment of $1.5 billion for the company.

In his endeavor to transform X into an all-encompassing app, Musk has undertaken substantial transformations to the website.

However, the rebranding of Twitter to X in July elicited discontent among users and perplexity. Remember the blinding X sign atop Twitter headquarters that invited the wrath of neighboring residential buildings?

Every year, as his wealth grows, he becomes a more controversial figure. His affluence this year is marked by his many faux pas. Musk’s antisemitic comments fanned the flames for the large disappearance of ad revenue from X as big names like Apple, Disney, IBM, Sony, etc.

And then he went on stage (literally) and dissed the advertisers (the bread and butter of X), telling them to ‘go f*ck themselves.’ It’s been a year full of being surprised at Musk’s antics.

The linchpin of Musk’s wealth lies in stocks. He has retained his position as the richest person in the world for almost the entirety of the year, often competing with Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, for the number one spot, with his net worth at $179 billion, about $53 billion behind Musk’s, reported Bloomberg.