Elon Musk’s net worth takes a $20 BILLION nosedive after a one-two punch: Tesla no longer taking Bitcoin and the SNL appearance when he called dogecoin a ‘hustle’
- The Tesla CEO is $20 billion poorer since hosting SNL last weekend
- Musk was worth $166 billion prior to his May 8 appearance, since then shares of Tesla have fallen 15% so far this week, lowering his net worth to $145.5 billion
- Musk still stands as the third-richest person on earth, ahead of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, whose fortune stands at an estimated $127.6 billion
- Musk’s announcement that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment initially caused a huge 17 percent drop in the price of the cryptocurrency
- The coin’s price plunge wipe off an estimated $365 billion from the entire cryptocurrency market
Elon Musk‘s net worth has taken a nosedive after the past week’s self-inflicted one-two punch: him saying Tesla would no longer take Bitcoin and him saying dogecoin was a ‘hustle.’
After his much talked about Saturday Night Live appearance last week, his net worth – at least on paper – has dipped by $20 billion, Forbes reported.
While Musk was worth a cool $166 billion prior to his May 8 appearance, shares of Tesla have fallen 15% so far this week, lowering his net worth to $145.5 billion as of market close on Thursday, Forbes estimates.
Tesla holds around $1.3 billion in Bitcoin – so as Bitcoin dips, the value of Tesla also can be dented: Musk’s net worth, tied up in Tesla stock, also then is affected.
Despite the massive loss, Musk still stands as the third-richest person on earth, ahead of Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, whose fortune stands at an estimated $127.6 billion, Forbes estimates.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (pictured) is $20 billion dollars poorer since hosting Saturday Night Live last weekend
Musk’s announcement that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment initially caused a huge 17 percent drop in the price of the cryptocurrency
On Wednesday, Musk’s announcement that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment for its electrical vehicles due to environmental factors bitcoin led to the cryptocurrency to also take a deep dive.
The announcement initially caused a huge 17 percent drop in the price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, but it recovered slightly during the day.
Bitcoin’s value is still down 8.85% percent over the 24 hour period since.
His revelation, which followed months of him boasting of his and Tesla’s investment in Bitcoin, initially saw the coin’s price plunge wipe off an estimated $365 billion from the entire cryptocurrency market.
Tesla had bought about $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin back in February around the time it announced it would accept the coin as payment, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
It means the latest drop wipes $150 million off Tesla’s Bitcoin investment.
The value of Dogecoin dropped sharply as Musk spoke, losing more than 20% of its value last Saturday
Elon Musk’s (pictured) fortune took a hit after his controversial Saturday Night Live appearance on May 8
Crypto is ‘mined’ by high-powered computers that require huge amounts of energy to continuously solve computational math puzzles. With each solved problem, a certain amount of coin is produced. While the machines use electricity, fossil fuel is a major category in electricity generation.
Environmentalists argue that the creation of the cryptocurrency may harm efforts to limit global warming.
The rising price of Bitcoin in the last two years has resulted in carbon emissions increasing by more than 40 million tons, a BofA Securities report said. That rise is the equivalent of 8.9 million additional cars on the road.
That same report noted Bitcoin’s energy consumption is comparable to that of major US corporations like American Airlines or even the US government.
Bitcoin also consumes more electricity than most countries.
Bitcoin was not the only major cryptocurrency’s value Musk had influence on.
During his opening monologue on SNL he was joined by his mother and joked about Dogecoin, calling it a ‘hustle.’
‘I’m excited for my Mother’s Day gift,’ Musk’s mother said. ‘I just hope it’s not Dogecoin.’
Dogecoin dropped 21% during the broadcast, Coindesk’s price history reported.