Elon Musk breaks Guinness World Record for largest wealth drop in history
Elon Musk's name is set to appear in the history books for breaking the Guinness World Record of losing the most wealth ever, CNBC reports.
After an abysmal 2022 which saw his fortune shrink by $182 billion, the organization announced the change of record on Friday in a release that cited data from Forbes.
Guinness noted that although "the exact figure [of Musk's loss] is almost impossible to ascertain," with some outlets estimated that he lost more than $200 billion.
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The Twitter owner demolished the previous record of a $58.6 billion loss by Japanese tech investor Masayoshi Son in 2000.
Musk's shrinking fortune was largely due to the steep slide of Tesla shares, which lost roughly 65% of their value during the company's worst year on record.
The loss was enough to knock him off his perch as the richest man in the world — a title now held by luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault.
The 53-year-old's wealth decline spared Amazon founder Jeff Bezos from taking the Guinness World Record. Bezos's $80 billion loss in 2022 would have firmly given him the "largest loss" title were it not for Musk.
Fellow tech CEO Mark Zuckerberg also broke Masayoshi Son's record with his $78 billion loss.
Musk's fortune once sat as high as $320 billion in late 2021. As of Jan. 10, Forbes estimates that his net worth sits at $142.1 billion, making him the No. 2 richest person in the world ahead of India's Gautam Adani ($125.1 billion).
