Elon Musk Lost Billions of Dollars in a Matter of Days
Multi-billionaire Elon Musk reportedly lost $20 billion since his May 8 appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL), as his company’s decision regarding bitcoin continues to send shockwaves across markets. His company has not ruled out accepting bitcoin again in the future. Tesla is willing to resume using bitcoin for transactions, as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.
One week ago, the day before Elon Musk made his appearance on SNL, Tesla stock was sitting at $669. In several days, the stock fell 14% to around $573. Thus, Musk’s $166 billion net worth fell by $20 billion to around $145.5 billion.
The 14% drop this week adds to an overall downward trend for the company’s stock over the past 30 days. One month ago, TSLA shares were sitting at $784. But the price of $573, marks a 26.91% decline over this period.
Musk’s actions are not just causing volatility in Tesla stock prices, with bitcoin’s price falling 8.1% from $55,448 when Musk made his statement to around $50,000 currently. People are actively discussing his decisions. The CEO of digital asset lender Celcius Network Alex Mashinsky expressed his opinion. He stated that the cryptocurrency industry did not need friends like Elon Musk. Mashinsky also noted that Tesla made $300 million profit from selling a portion of its bitcoin. The company’s decision to sell bitcoin, helped the company to improve the Q1 bottom line.
Elon Musk and the cryptocurrency industry
Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor also criticized Elon Musk, and Saylor used his Twitter account to explain his position. Saylor said the cost of bitcoin was worth it for the benefits. He made it clear that bitcoin is an important part of the modern world. Saylor might be more upset than others as he was reportedly instrumental in convincing Musk to add bitcoin to Tesla’s balance sheet.
Saylor’s company took advantage of the dip caused by Musk’s announcement to spend another $15 million on bitcoin. For that price, Microstrategy bought 271 BTC and the total number owned by the company reached 91,850 BTC.
Some people support Elon Musk’s approach to bitcoin. The CEO of investment firm Skybridge Capital is one of them. He suggested that this was part of Musk’s plan to help clean up the bitcoin industry.
