It's only Wednesday, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk has already lost $50 billion this week after shares of Tesla tanked 16% in two days.
The massive losses come on the back of a string of headlines, including tweets from Musk himself and another tweet from a famed short-seller.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in its latest update, Musk is worth $288 billion after the losses. The $50 billion lost marks the largest two-day decline in the history of the index, according to Bloomberg.
Tesla's share prices fell sharply this week after Musk asked his Twitter followers over the weekend if he should sell 10% of the stock he holds to pay taxes. The results were a resounding yes — causing Tesla share prices to fall as much as 7% on Monday.
Tesla's share prices came under additional pressure on Tuesday — falling as much as 12% — after famed short-seller Michael Burry suggested in a now-deleted tweet that Musk may want to sell his shares to cover his personal debts. Share prices were also hit by news that Musk's cousin and director of the EV company, Kimbal Musk, sold over $100 million of Tesla stock last week.
Despite the sharp decline this week, Tesla shares are still up 40% year-to-date — and Musk is still the richest man on earth, leading second-wealthiest man Jeff Bezos by $82 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This article was amended to reflect updated figures from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. An earlier version put Musk's net worth at $323 billion on Wednesday.
