Last week Elon Musk saw his net worth plunge after stock markets took a hammering, with Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock’s recent surge quickly unraveling.
Rising bond yield leading to massive selloffs
Currently, there is growing concern among Wall Street investors regarding the rising bond yields that could potentially make borrowing expensive. This could potentially affect corporate profits, and it is the reason behind investors reversing their positions they had taken this past year in the risky, high-growth stocks such as Tesla. Tesla saw its stock drop 11.5% this past week, and Musk, who holds around 18% stake in the electric car manufacturer bore most of the massive selloff’s brunt.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the Tesla CEO’s net worth dropped by $27 billion in the past week. Interestingly, the decline is almost equal to Dayson founder James Dayson’s, currently the 52nd richest man globally, entire fortune.
Musk drops to second as richest man globally
Notably, Musk and Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), have been changing places on Bloomberg’s richest people list globally since the beginning of this year. However, for now, Musk is in second place with a net worth of $157 billion, trailing Bezos whose net worth currently stands at $177 billion. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder Bill Gates is the third richest man globally with a net worth of $136 billion.
In 2020, Tesla’s stock surged 743%, taking the company to fifth in the most valuable companies’ list in the stock market. In the early weeks of this year, the stock continued to rise gaining 25% to close at $883.90 on January 26 but, since then, shares have shed almost a third of their value to place tesla stock in bear territory. On Friday, the shares closed under $600, which is the first time they have been that low since early December.
Tesla to introduce “Full Self Driving” beta
Despite Tesla’s stock experiencing declines, the company plans to expand the “full Self-Driving” (FSD) beta, according to Musk. The CEO confirmed that the company will double the size of FSD with a new update, eventually increasing participants tenfold. In a tweet, Musk said, “still be careful, but it’s getting mature.” According to Musk, Tesla will add a download beta button to the display going forward because of high demand.
The company had introduced the FSD beta in October 2020 in the Early Access Program. Musk indicated at the time that they were handling the software update cautiously. Notably, drivers should put their hands on the steering wheel and should be ready to assume control of their car anytime. According to Electrek, the company uses FSD beta data to enhance performance, and as of last month, around 1,000 cars had the beta.
Most importantly, beta helps reduce complacency in usage, according to Musk, and assists in setting expectations appropriately. The Tesla simulation and QA drive teams first test all software. Because of regulatory approval delays and the company’s internal testing, FSD beta availability will vary by region.
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