Elon Musk's net worth took a hit on Friday, as Tesla shares plummeted. The electric carmaker's stock dropped 9% after Musk tweeted that he was taking the company private at $420 per share. At the close of trading, Musk was worth an estimated $22.8 billion, down from $24 billion at the start of the day. This marks a steep decline from Musk's peak net worth of $202 billion in January 2021. What caused Tesla's stock to drop so sharply? And what does this mean for Musk's net worth going forward?

Elon Musk Net Worth Dropped by $200 Billion

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, saw his net worth drop by $200 billion in a few hours on Friday after Tesla Inc. shares plunged.

Musk is now worth $151 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He had been worth as much as $209 billion earlier in the day.

The drop in Tesla’s stock price wiped out about $15 billion of Musk’s fortune and came after the electric-car maker reported weaker-than-expected vehicle deliveries for the first quarter.

The shares fell as much as 17% in early trading Friday, the biggest one-day percentage drop since February 2020. At one point, Musk was the world’s second-richest person behind only Amazon.com Inc.’s Jeff Bezos. He has now slipped to fourth place, behind Bill Gates, Bernard Arnault, and Zuckerberg.

This is not the first time Musk has lost billions in a single day. In October 2018, Tesla shares tumbled 9% after the New York Times published an article detailing how close the company was to production problems with its Model 3 sedan. And in June 2017, he lost about $1 billion when SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket exploded on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center.

How did Elon Musk's net worth drop $200 billion in a few hours?

In a few hours on Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw his net worth drop by more than $200 billion.

The stock market can be a cruel mistress, and no one knows that better than Musk. His net worth is largely tied up in Tesla stock, which took a nosedive after the electric automaker reported worse-than-expected vehicle deliveries for the first quarter of 2020.

The dip wiped out nearly all of Musk's gains for the year and put him back below Bill Gates on Forbes' list of the world's richest people.

Musk is still far from being broke, of course. He remains the chairman and CEO of SpaceX, which is valued at more than $30 billion. And he has other interests, including The Boring Company and Neuralink. But Thursday was a tough day for Musk and his fortune.

How did this happen?

In the early hours of Thursday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw his net worth drop by $1.8 billion. The plunge came as shares of Tesla sank more than 9% after the electric-car maker reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and gave a disappointing delivery forecast for the rest of the year.

It was the latest blow for Musk, who has seen his fortune fluctuate wildly this year as Tesla's share price has gyrated. He is now worth an estimated $22.8 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index data.

Musk has had a tumultuous 2018, and Thursday's drop in net worth is just the latest example. In August, he lost $1.5 billion after tweeting that he planned to take Tesla private at $420 a share, only to abandon those plans less than three weeks later. And in July, he saw his net worth rise by $1 billion in a single day after Tesla posted strong quarterly results.

What does this mean for the future?

This past week has been brutal for tech stocks. After a strong start to the year, many have taken a beating in recent days as investors worry about the future of the industry. One high-profile casualty has been Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose net worth dropped by $1 billion in just a few hours on Thursday.

The sell-off was sparked by a number of factors, including concerns about Tesla's production ramp-up for its new Model 3 sedan, worries about the company's debt load, and overall fears about the future of the electric car market. But while Musk's net worth may have taken a hit this week, he's still one of the richest people in the world, with an estimated fortune of $19.9 billion.

And Tesla is still one of the most valuable automakers in the world, with a market capitalization of nearly $58 billion. So while there may be some challenges ahead for Musk and Tesla, it's important to remember that they're still leaders in their respective fields.