The world’s richest man, Elon Musk became $10 billion poorer in just a single day after claims of sexual misconduct against him emerged.
The Tesla founder and CEO’s wealth shrank by $10 billion on Friday, May 20 as Tesla’s stock plunged, according to Bloomberg.
The company’s stock price fell after a report that SpaceX settled a sexual misconduct claim against him.
A market analyst said Tesla’s backers feared “key-man risk” and “perception is reality for [Wall] Street.”
Musk was worth about $212 billion on Thursday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. After news of the allegations broke on Thursday night, his wealth fell to around $201 billion, the index showed.
According to a report by Insider, SpaceX, the aerospace firm founded by Musk, paid a flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against Musk in 2018. Musk categorically denied the claim, saying it came out due to his ongoing purchase of Twitter.
Musk owns around 47% of SpaceX. Last week, the company was estimated to have reached a $125 billion valuation. But it’s a privately-held company, and as such, its valuation doesn’t change much from day to day.