Elon Musk loses half his wealth in a month and a half

American billionaire Elon Musk has seen his personal fortune nearly halved in just over a month and a half, according to the latest figures from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The owner of Tesla and SpaceX, however, still holds the title of the world's wealthiest individual, with his net worth currently estimated at $684 billion. This marks a dramatic decrease from his peak in mid-June, when his wealth was valued at approximately $1.33 trillion.

The sharp decline in Musk's wealth is largely attributed to a significant drop in the valuation of SpaceX stock. Following a surge in initial trading sessions after the company's mid-June initial public offering, the stock has lost nearly half of its value from its peak. As Musk holds approximately 40% of SpaceX, fluctuations in the company's stock price directly impact his personal net worth. This loss is largely considered an accounting or paper loss, as the hundreds of billions of dollars have not physically left his accounts.

Despite this substantial paper loss, Musk's wealth remains considerably higher than that of other tech titans like Google co-founder Larry Page and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who rank second and third, respectively. The top ten wealthiest individuals, according to the Bloomberg Index, continue to be dominated by figures from the technology sector, including Mark Zuckerberg and Jensen Huang, the co-founder and CEO of chipmaker Nvidia.