The world’s richest billionaire, Elon Musk, faced significant selling pressures amid sell-offs in the world’s most valuable electric car market on Friday.
The American entrepreneur posted a daily loss of $15 billion, bringing his wealth valuation down to $240 billion.
Musk is the CEO of SpaceX, a privately held rocket company, and publicly traded Tesla, the most valuable automobile manufacturer in the world.
He owns roughly 13% of Tesla and possesses around 304 million exercisable stock options as part of his 2018 compensation package. Tesla is by no means Musk’s only asset; he also has investments in The Boring Company, a tunnel construction company, and the artificial intelligence startup xAI.
Tesla Shares Post Heavy Losses in Friday’s Trading Session
Tesla’s shares ended Friday’s trading session nearly 9% lower after the electric vehicle company’s much-anticipated Robotaxi event failed to please investors. Elon Musk unveiled the Cybercab self-driving concept car on Thursday night at its “We, Robot” event. The vehicle is a low, silver two-seater without pedals or a steering wheel. Musk also emphasized the company’s plans to develop a fleet of robots and autonomous vehicles.
He revealed that the company plans to begin construction of the Cybercab before 2027, although he did not disclose where the cars will be manufactured. He further stated that the Cybercab would sell for less than $30,000. Additionally, he anticipates that Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y electric cars, along with “unsupervised FSD,” will be operational in Texas and California by the end of next year. Full Self-Driving, or FSD for short, is Tesla’s top-tier driver assistance technology; a “supervised” version is currently offered for Tesla electric cars.
Musk also announced plans to build an electric, self-driving Robovan that can transport up to 20 people or cargo, in addition to the Cybercab. He claimed that it would “solve for high density,” such as when moving a sports team.
Morgan Stanley analysts, however, asserted that Musk did not adequately argue during the event that Tesla is an AI firm. The experts pointed out that Musk remained silent regarding rumors of a partnership between Tesla and his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, as well as updates to Tesla’s fault detection system. The analysts stated that the event “disappointed expectations in several areas: a lack of data regarding rate-of-change on FSD/tech, ride-share economics, and go-to-market strategy.”
Tesla’s competitors are also formidable, particularly those offering lower prices in China. The company has faced challenges in the past; in 2022, weaker sales caused shares to plunge by two-thirds. The carmaker also issued several recalls for its models, including a software recall that affected almost all the cars sold in the U.S. due to a malfunctioning Autopilot system.
