7 ms·

Elon watching $44B go up in flames

5 points by dotcoma 3y ago

coldtea 3y ago
Yeah, that will show him: Elon Musk is the richest person in the world as of June 9, 2023, according to Forbes. His net worth is estimated to be $220 billion, which is $5 billion more than the second-richest person, Bernard Arnault who is at number 2 with the net worth of $215.4 billion. How Elon Musk topped the chart again In Thursday, June 8's trading, Tesla stock showed a remarkable rally of 4.6%, reaching $235 per share and extending its winning streak to 10 consecutive days. This put Tesla on track to achieve its highest closing share price since October 6, 2022. After experiencing a decline and reaching a two-year low in early January, Tesla shares have rebounded impressive.
- dotcoma 3y ago
  Not saying that his net worth is going to go to zero, nor do I care. Just saying that the money he invested in Twitter is seriously at risk.
  - cocodill 3y ago
    You don't care so much that you decided to share this observation here?
- synetic 3y ago
  As you suggest it won’t show him. It should, however, show us what an absurdity it is that a man can lose $44 billion and not have it affect his life in any material way. The distribution of resources/wealth is grossly unfair. One person should not have so much while others have so little.
  - JohnnyHerz 3y ago
    Nothing absurd about it at all. We live in a capitalist society where attempting to execute on a big hairy audacious idea can lead to spectacular success or equally spectacular failure. Elon clearly crushed it by executing his business plans for Tesla and Space X and therefore deserves to reap the rewards. As for Twitter, he bought an overpriced toy for himself and in deciding to use it according to his desires, instead of the previous owners, he destroyed the previous basis of Twitters valuation. But don't rule out the possibility that his remake of Twitter doesn't lead to a new and even higher valuation based on executing a new vision and operating model for the platform. I'm betting that Elon gets the last laugh...
    - synetic 3y ago
      Nothing absurd about it at all. Unfortunately this is a view held by many Americans. It is sad to me to see people defend the fact that one person can accumulate so much whilst vast numbers of people have so little. Hopefully, someday we will strive to implement a just and equitable society rather than trying to become Ferenginar.
      - Arnt 3y ago
        He's just an outlier in a system where people can decide for themselves and some decide this way, some decide that way. You can take a more general case instead, if you want one that describes a large number of regular people insead of rare exceptions. At the places where I've worked, the colleagues without cars generally had a noticeably higher disposable income than the ones with. Some of the people with cars thought they needed cars, in their opinion wasn't really their choice, and it was somehow unfair that they had lower disposable income than the carless people after each had paid what was necessary. Fair or not? Each had judged their needs for themselves, differently, and one of the results was that even though the pay was the same, one group had a lot more money in the hand.
        coldtea 3y ago
        It's an overstatement that people "can decide for themselves". For starters, nobody asked them if they agree with the system, people are just born into it. Same for their initial starting point in the system (e.g. born into poverty, born black, etc), which largely determines their fate and position it. Sure, some can overcome their unequal starting point, but only by working much harder than people who didnd't have to overcome theirs. That's not only not an equal game, it's not even a meritocratic one.
        Arnt 3y ago
        People can't decide everything for themselves, but they can decide much more than nothing. Mostly. My wife was born in a place where people couldn't decide where to live. When you wanted to move out from your parents, you'd file an application for an apartment, specify in which city, and a suitable apartment would be allocated to you (quite often after some waiting time). What was considered "suitable" was decided by the people in that office, you'd have no say in the matter. In a very real and practical sense, people had no say in where to live. You moved out in order to study and wanted to live near university? Well, you might get a place there, or not — not your choice. This is rare. In most countries people have much more influence over this (and it's a key aspect of everyday life). I'm in Namibia now, a country very much poorer than my native Norway. People here have a say in where to live, like people almost everywhere on the globe. Not completely, they'd have a problem getting a visa to live where I do, but the medical student I chatted with yesterday has the ability to choose whether he'd rather live closer to university or to the hospital. Compared to the worst-off person I personally know, he has a lot of influence over his daily life. The fact that some people don't have the legal right to look for a place to live doesn't mean that most people don't. Most people do.
- Zigurd 3y ago
  Numbers like this "as of June 9, 2023, according to Forbes. His net worth is estimated to be $220 billion" are very squishy. Where you and I with our discount brokerage accounts will promptly get a margin call if a margin account lacks a penny of the requires collateral, Elon's borrowing against Tesla shares skates over loan covenants, as does the Twitter LBO debt, when loans of that size are a significant risk to the lenders. Tesla is a mem stock, priced at 15X the P/E of Mercedes-Benz Group, which makes actual luxury EVs with good workmanship, and actually delivers level 3 ADAS. Gravity-defying leverage is "wealth" that can evaporate in a day.

5 points by dotcoma 3y ago

Yeah, that will show him: Elon Musk is the richest person in the world as of June 9, 2023, according to Forbes. His net worth is estimated to be $220 billion, which is $5 billion more than the second-richest person, Bernard Arnault who is at number 2 with the net worth of $215.4 billion. How Elon Musk topped the chart again In Thursday, June 8's trading, Tesla stock showed a remarkable rally of 4.6%, reaching $235 per share and extending its winning streak to 10 consecutive days. This put Tesla on track to achieve its highest closing share price since October 6, 2022. After experiencing a decline and reaching a two-year low in early January, Tesla shares have rebounded impressive.

dotcoma 3y ago
Not saying that his net worth is going to go to zero, nor do I care. Just saying that the money he invested in Twitter is seriously at risk.
- cocodill 3y ago
  You don't care so much that you decided to share this observation here?
synetic 3y ago
As you suggest it won’t show him. It should, however, show us what an absurdity it is that a man can lose $44 billion and not have it affect his life in any material way. The distribution of resources/wealth is grossly unfair. One person should not have so much while others have so little.
- JohnnyHerz 3y ago
  Nothing absurd about it at all. We live in a capitalist society where attempting to execute on a big hairy audacious idea can lead to spectacular success or equally spectacular failure. Elon clearly crushed it by executing his business plans for Tesla and Space X and therefore deserves to reap the rewards. As for Twitter, he bought an overpriced toy for himself and in deciding to use it according to his desires, instead of the previous owners, he destroyed the previous basis of Twitters valuation. But don't rule out the possibility that his remake of Twitter doesn't lead to a new and even higher valuation based on executing a new vision and operating model for the platform. I'm betting that Elon gets the last laugh...
  - synetic 3y ago
    Nothing absurd about it at all. Unfortunately this is a view held by many Americans. It is sad to me to see people defend the fact that one person can accumulate so much whilst vast numbers of people have so little. Hopefully, someday we will strive to implement a just and equitable society rather than trying to become Ferenginar.
    - Arnt 3y ago
      He's just an outlier in a system where people can decide for themselves and some decide this way, some decide that way. You can take a more general case instead, if you want one that describes a large number of regular people insead of rare exceptions. At the places where I've worked, the colleagues without cars generally had a noticeably higher disposable income than the ones with. Some of the people with cars thought they needed cars, in their opinion wasn't really their choice, and it was somehow unfair that they had lower disposable income than the carless people after each had paid what was necessary. Fair or not? Each had judged their needs for themselves, differently, and one of the results was that even though the pay was the same, one group had a lot more money in the hand.
      - coldtea 3y ago
        It's an overstatement that people "can decide for themselves". For starters, nobody asked them if they agree with the system, people are just born into it. Same for their initial starting point in the system (e.g. born into poverty, born black, etc), which largely determines their fate and position it. Sure, some can overcome their unequal starting point, but only by working much harder than people who didnd't have to overcome theirs. That's not only not an equal game, it's not even a meritocratic one.
        Arnt 3y ago
        People can't decide everything for themselves, but they can decide much more than nothing. Mostly. My wife was born in a place where people couldn't decide where to live. When you wanted to move out from your parents, you'd file an application for an apartment, specify in which city, and a suitable apartment would be allocated to you (quite often after some waiting time). What was considered "suitable" was decided by the people in that office, you'd have no say in the matter. In a very real and practical sense, people had no say in where to live. You moved out in order to study and wanted to live near university? Well, you might get a place there, or not — not your choice. This is rare. In most countries people have much more influence over this (and it's a key aspect of everyday life). I'm in Namibia now, a country very much poorer than my native Norway. People here have a say in where to live, like people almost everywhere on the globe. Not completely, they'd have a problem getting a visa to live where I do, but the medical student I chatted with yesterday has the ability to choose whether he'd rather live closer to university or to the hospital. Compared to the worst-off person I personally know, he has a lot of influence over his daily life. The fact that some people don't have the legal right to look for a place to live doesn't mean that most people don't. Most people do.
Zigurd 3y ago
Numbers like this "as of June 9, 2023, according to Forbes. His net worth is estimated to be $220 billion" are very squishy. Where you and I with our discount brokerage accounts will promptly get a margin call if a margin account lacks a penny of the requires collateral, Elon's borrowing against Tesla shares skates over loan covenants, as does the Twitter LBO debt, when loans of that size are a significant risk to the lenders. Tesla is a mem stock, priced at 15X the P/E of Mercedes-Benz Group, which makes actual luxury EVs with good workmanship, and actually delivers level 3 ADAS. Gravity-defying leverage is "wealth" that can evaporate in a day.