Elon Musk’s net worth took a staggering $33.9 billion on Friday, June 6, according to Bloomberg.
This marked one of the most dramatic single-day losses in recent history, as tensions between the tech mogul and President Trump fester.
President Donald Trump escalated into a full-blown public feud.
The unraveling of what was once seen as one of the most consequential business-political alliances in modern America has sent shockwaves through the markets, triggered policy uncertainty, and called into question the stability of Musk’s business empire.
Trump, speaking with reporters in Washington, did not mince words, expressing what he called “deep disappointment” in Musk, a man he once championed and empowered. During his time in office, Trump extended significant federal support to Musk’s companies, most notably SpaceX and Tesla, often bypassing traditional regulatory hurdles to give the billionaire entrepreneur a direct pipeline to Washington’s inner circle.
That favor now appears to be a thing of the past. The falling-out reportedly began over a disagreement surrounding recent federal space exploration policy and Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s 2024 campaign positions.
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What began as subtle jabs on social media quickly escalated when Musk publicly threatened to suspend operations of a critical SpaceX spacecraft used by NASA for resupply missions to the International Space Station. Although Musk reversed the decision within hours, political and financial damage was done.
- Markets responded swiftly and harshly. Tesla’s stock plunged 14%, dragging Musk’s personal wealth down to an estimated $335 billion.
- Since the start of the year, he has now lost close to $98 billion, a 22.6% decline that reflects growing concerns about leadership instability, legal challenges, and political distractions.
- Much of Musk’s fortune is tied to Tesla, where he owns about 13% of the company and holds hundreds of millions of exercisable stock options. However, those options have become the subject of legal scrutiny following a Delaware court ruling that voided his 2018 compensation package, an ongoing legal battle that continues to cloud Tesla’s future leadership and compensation structure.
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Meanwhile, Musk’s other ventures face their pressures. SpaceX, his most valuable asset at an estimated $350 billion, remains a closely held private company. Musk controls about 42% of it through a trust. His AI-social media hybrid, xAI Holdings, formed from the merger of his social network X and AI startup xAI, has yet to inspire confidence on Wall Street.
Though it’s valued at nearly $73 billion, that valuation reflects two distinct business models that investors believe still lack cohesion. Further complicating matters, Musk has pledged a significant portion of his Tesla and SpaceX shares to secure personal loans, a financial move that adds another layer of vulnerability should market conditions continue to sour.
