July 26 — Over the past week, two publicly listed companies led by U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk have underperformed. Tesla’s stock fell nearly 20% this week, closing at $313.03 per share—the largest weekly decline since 2022; SpaceX closed at $115.07 per share, its lowest level since last month’s IPO.

File photo: U.S. entrepreneur Elon Musk, Hong Kong News Agency

According to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk’s personal wealth has evaporated by roughly $130 billion in just five trading days, despite having become the first person in history to surpass a net worth of $1 trillion just weeks earlier.

Public data show that Tesla’s stock has fallen nearly 30% year to date, making it the worst-performing among tech giants.

Meanwhile, despite a post-IPO surge, SpaceX’s stock has been on a steady decline over the past month. It has declined for four of the past five weeks and is down roughly 43% from its closing high to date.

Elon Musk himself joked on social media that he is a “(former) trillionaire.”

Data show that short interest in SpaceX has risen to approximately 32% of its float. In response, Musk warned that institutions holding large short positions in SpaceX have a “very low chance of survival.” At present, the market remains focused on whether SpaceX and Tesla might merge. During the earnings call, Musk neither confirmed nor denied the matter, only stating that business overlap between the two companies would increase. At present, some Wall Street analysts are growing increasingly optimistic that the two companies will ultimately reach an agreement.