Elon Musk remains the world’s richest man, but if Tesla’s stock continues to slide as it has over the past six months, he may not be for long.
With Tesla shares falling 18.5% so far this year, Elon Musk, who is the company’s CEO and largest shareholder, holding 13% of its stock, has seen nearly $76 billion of his wealth wiped out.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk was worth $357 billion as of August 5, 2025. That means Oracle CEO Larry Ellison – in second place on the index – is within striking distance of first place. Just $54 billion in wealth separates Ellison from Musk.
Oracle shares have soared 52% this year, thanks to the AI boom. If these trends continue for Tesla and Oracle, Ellison could overtake Musk before the end of the year.
Analysts largely agree on what’s behind Tesla’s slide: Musk’s political activities, starting with his backing of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign last year, and continuing with his appointment this year to head the US’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
DOGE made many controversial cuts to US federal government spending, perhaps most famously at USAID, an agency tasked with delivering foreign aid to developing countries and NGOs, and which supported the US’s “soft power” through the financing of media organizations like Radio Free Europe and others. Some of DOGE’s cuts were formalized in the “Big Beautiful Bill” that President Trump signed into law on July 4.
Amid Musk’s political activities, Tesla sales have seen steep drops in many markets. Sales of Tesla cars in the US were down 16% in April, according to Automotive News. This was even more pronounced in Europe, where new registrations of Tesla cars fell 86% in Sweden in July, by 62% in the Netherlands and by 27% in France, according to a report at Reuters.
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In Canada – which has been embroiled in a bitter trade war with the US since President Donald Trump started musing about making the country “the 51st US state” earlier this year – sales of Teslas dropped to “nearly zero,” according to an analyst who tracks Tesla sales. In The Canadian province of Quebec, sales fell by 90% in the first quarter of 2025, the CBC reported.
However, not all markets have followed this trend. Sales of Teslas were up 56% in Japan in the first quarter of this year, while sales in Norway were up 83% and sales in Spain were up 27% in April.
Musk has backed away from some of his political activities in recent months after publicly criticizing the “Big Beautiful Bill” championed by President Trump, calling it a “disgusting abomination.” That led to a war of words on social media between Musk and Trump that appears to have severed their relationship.
Musk also stepped back from his leadership of DOGE at the end of May.
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Despite the sales decline and the downward trend of Tesla’s stock, the company’s board appears to be standing behind its CEO. On Monday, Tesla announced that the board had approved a $29-billion pay package for Musk, as compensation for a larger pay package that was struck down by a Maryland court after being challenged by some shareholders.
Under the new package, Musk will be able to buy 96 million shares of Tesla at $23.34 per share, the price of a Tesla share in 2018 when the original pay package was agreed. That 2018 price is less than 10% of the current price of Tesla shares, which are trading above $300.
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