Summary

Elon Musk’s fortunes have plummeted by $148 billion amid Tesla stock plunging nearly 50%, government protests, and setbacks at SpaceX and Starlink.

A White House event with Trump, meant to boost Tesla, instead highlighted Musk’s growing desperation.

Musk’s other ventures are also struggling—SpaceX rockets have exploded during tests and Starlink lost a Canadian contract.

His role leading DOGE is generating backlash, with Musk appearing increasingly defeated in public appearances.

His reputation, which previously weathered controversies, now faces unprecedented challenges due to his political alliance with Trump.

Non-paywall link

  • theneverfox@pawb.social
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    16 hours ago

    I’ve been wondering about this… Billionaires do the “borrow against their holdings so they pay no taxes, do it again to pay those off, then die” thing

    So his holdings doubled and crashed back down (and still falling) over the course of a few months. He leveraged a ton of it to buy Twitter, which has also crashed.

    So is there a point where he loses everything? If Tesla drops too low, can they call in the debt?

    He doesn’t seem to own much property directly, even his mini home is basically a publicity stunt while he basically lives with various friends

    So if his stocks continue to crash, is there a point where it all just falls apart?

    • booly@sh.itjust.works
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      3 hours ago

      So is there a point where he loses everything? If Tesla drops too low, can they call in the debt?

      Yes, to whatever extent that Elon-owned stock is pledged as collateral for his personal loans. Loans like that always carry provisions where the lender can call in the collateral if the value drops to a certain ratio of the overall loan balance.

      So if Tesla stock plunges enough (and we have no way of knowing exactly how much is enough), that can cascade to where Elon needs to put up some cash, or other property, or pledge more shares, or it all comes crashing down where his collateral gets wiped out at the bottom.

    • Botzo@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      Lovely imagery, but I think words get in the way of the magnitude of the wealth here.

      There’s (unfortunately) not a realistic scenario where he’s not a billionaire.

      • theneverfox@pawb.social
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        14 hours ago

        You want me to paint a picture? I’m watching a god bleed, and now I’m wondering what it takes for one to fall

        You can say it’s impossible, but we’re in the onion timeline. We’re so far beyond anything humanity has ever gone through before… History might rhyme, but we’re in uncharted territory

        • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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          14 hours ago

          Nah this is charted out somewhat well. There have been many untouchable folks with so much wealth, power, and influence so as to be almost divine in folks eyes. While plenty have lived into old age plenty still died choking on their own blood with a noose around their neck. I’m hoping for the latter personally.

          • theneverfox@pawb.social
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            11 hours ago

            You act like we’re saying different things…

            But history rhymes, it doesn’t repeat. We’re in uncharted territory… The final outcome will probably rhyme, but there’s endless differences from anything humanity has ever experienced before

        • Botzo@lemmy.world
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          13 hours ago

          What it takes for gods to fall? I’d say a titanic effort, but we know how that ended. Perhaps apropos.

    • AlecSadler@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours ago

      It just means he’ll continue to double down on his current activities. Like a cornered rat, he has nothing to lose now. So he will break every law possible to maintain.

      Which is not good.

    • JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      The sad part is, even if his empire disappears, he’s still gonna leave wealthier than most of us.

      • theneverfox@pawb.social
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        14 hours ago

        No, he’d be killed. He’s made too many enemies… Both in his peers for revealing himself to be a liability, and among the working class worldwide

        If he falls out of grace, he’s going down like Epstein, if not by the adjuster

          • theneverfox@pawb.social
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            11 hours ago

            Nope. Luigi is clearly innocent

            And turning off the sarcasm for a moment… They found a manifesto and a murder weapon at McDonald’s on a guy who dropped a backpack full of Monopoly money in central park? Then got away? He doesn’t even look that similar to the security cam videos… It’s too convenient, I have legitimate doubt

            • Scrollone@feddit.it
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              10 hours ago

              Yes. Me too. I think they planted the gun to a random guy just to make rich people happy that the police is efficient in finding the culprit.

              • theneverfox@pawb.social
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                1 hour ago

                Especially because they apparently improperly searched him, which could make it all inadmissable

                It’s amazing for quick everyone was to talk about him like he did it

                Like, he can get acquitted, do a press conference and say “guys the police tried to frame me. It really wasn’t me” and no one would believe him. People would go “riiiight” winking at him and doing finger guns