Elon Musk's drop in fortunes could break record

Elon Musk appears to have broken the world record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history.

The billionaire has lost around $182bn (£150bn) since November 2021, according to figures from publisher Forbes.

His losses stemmed largely from a fall in value of shares in his electric car company Tesla, after he bought social media platform Twitter late last year.

The $44bn (£36bn) takeover has sparked concerns among investors that Mr Musk is no longer giving Tesla enough attention.

Mr Musk's losses since November 2021 could surpass the previous record of $58.6bn (£47bn), suffered by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000.

In December, the Tesla boss lost his position as richest person in the world to Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury goods company LVMH, which owns fashion label Louis Vuitton.

The value of Tesla shares dropped around 65% in 2022, in part because of Tesla's performance. The firm it delivered just 1.3 million vehicles during the year, falling short of Wall Street expectations.

However, Mr Musk's takeover of Twitter - where he has sparked controversy by firing large numbers of staff and changing content moderation policies - is behind most of the share slump.

Many Tesla investors believe he should be focusing on the electric vehicle company as it faces falling demand amid recession fears, rising competition and Covid-linked production challenges.

"Long-term fundamentals [at Tesla] are extremely strong. Short-term market madness is unpredictable," Mr Musk tweeted after the stock markets closed for the year in December 2022.

Mr Musk is now worth about $178bn (£152bn), according to Forbes, while Bernard Arnault has an estimated value of $188bn (£155bn).