Elon Musk's wealth tumbles by $15 billion after Tesla shares dropped 9% in one day

<p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/6034ba4fbed5c50011a2bf91-2400/GettyImages-1206292049.jpg" border="0" alt="Elon Musk" data-mce-source="Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><ul class="summary-list"><li>Elon Musk's wealth fell by $15 billion after Tesla's stock dived 9% on Monday.</li><li>The slide was partly fueled by Musk's tweets that bitcoin and Ethereum's price "do seem high."</li><li>Tesla also announced it would halt new orders for the lowest-priced version of its Model Y SUV.&nbsp;</li><li id="recirc"><a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell&amp;hash=8122c716833601fc1471f79af063b104'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell</a>.</li></ul><hr><p>Billionaire Elon Musk has yet again slipped to second place on <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">Bloomberg's index</a> of the world's richest people after his net worth dropped by $15 billion on Monday.</p><p>His wealth fell to $183 billion, allowing outgoing Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to reclaim first place, after Tesla's shares tumbled 9% on Mondaytheir biggest one-day decline since late September. The drop was fuelled partly by Musk tweeting over the weekend that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-admits-on-twitter-that-bitcoin-and-ethereum-seem-high-2021-2'r=US&amp;IR=T">bitcoin and Ethereum prices seem high</a>. <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Bitcoin</a> dropped 11% on Tuesday, to $48,016, in a sign of wariness of its rapid ascent, while <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/eth-usd">Ethereum</a> fell 15% to $1,521.</p><p>The electric-vehicle maker's stock was further undermined by its decision to <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/tesla-stock-price-reaction-decline-model-y-suv-order-stoppage-2021-2-1030109374">halt orders for a cheaper version of its Model Y SUV</a>. Tesla has removed the car from its online configurator just a month after launching. It isn't clear yet whether the decision is temporary, or permanent.</p><p>Musk has been pushed to the second spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for a <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/jeff-bezos-reclaims-world-richest-title-drop-elon-musk-wealth-2021-2-1030090840">second time this month</a>, but both he and Bezos have been trading places since January on the back of Tesla's fluctuating share price. Bloomberg now estimates Bezos' wealth at $186 billion, with Musk $3 billion behind him.&nbsp;</p><p>Bezos occupied the top spot for three consecutive years until January, when Musk took over following a near-800% rally in the value of Tesla shares.</p><p>On Monday, gold bull and bitcoin cynic Peter Schiff <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterSchiff/status/1363960301037772810">tweeted</a>: "Two weeks after @elonmusk announced that he spent $1.5 billion of shareholder money buying Bitcoin, #Tesla<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tesla'src=hashtag_click" data-focusable="true"></a> stock entered a bear market, plunging 20% from its all-time high set on Jan. 25th, and 16% since disclosing the #Bitcoin buy. Not an example other CEOs will likely follow!"</p><p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/6034c3d2bed5c50011a2bf9c-956/Screenshot 2021-02-23 at 085824.png" border="0" alt="Screenshot 2021 02 23 at 08.58.24" data-mce-source="@PeterSchiff/Twitter"></p><p>But according to crypto expert Paolo Ardoino, CTO at crypto exchange Bitfinex, price fluctuations can be expected in a nascent space. The sharp drop in bitcoin's price may galvanize the cryptocurrency's many critics, including those who recently dismissed it as an economic sideshow, he said.</p><p>"Such criticism misses the point and the profound impact it is starting to have," he added. "For many of the battle-tested exchanges that have weathered the market fluctuations, volatility isn't new and is to be expected in such a young market."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/bitcoin-investment-best-time-was-yesterday-strategist-coinshares-2021-2-1030108119" >The best time to buy bitcoin was 'yesterday' and allocating 4% of a portfolio is a good bet, a chief strategist at CoinShares says</a></strong></p><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/elon-musk-wealth-tumbles-15-billion-tesla-stock-dropped-9-2021-2-1030111505#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-travel-during-coronavirus-outbreak-planes-airports-virus-2020-3">Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak</a></p>
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