Is the political arena thriving while the market is failing? Elon Musk's wealth is expected to exceed 400 billion dollars by 2025, making Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) a "dragging grandson."

Elon Musk's net worth has dropped below $400 billion for the first time in two months, largely due to the sharp decline in the stock price of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US). The stock price of Tesla, Inc. reached a historical high in mid-December last year as people hoped that Musk's close relationship with US President Donald Trump would boost the company's stock price. However, since then, the stock has fallen by 27%. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Tesla, Inc. stocks and options make up over 60% of Musk's wealth, which reached a peak of $486.4 billion on December 17 after Trump's election. Last week was the worst performance for Tesla, Inc. since early October last year, with the company's stock falling by 11% after reporting disappointing monthly sales. In Germany, Tesla, Inc. deliveries dropped by 59% to the lowest level since 2021, and in China, Tesla, Inc. sales decreased by 11.5% year-on-year. On Monday, Tesla, Inc. fell by 3% to $350.73, marking the fourth consecutive day of decline. Musk's political transformation has been a key driver of the rise in Tesla, Inc. stock price since the US election. Since Trump took office, Musk has led efforts to cut costs at the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). However, so far, investors' hopes that the Trump administration would push Tesla, Inc.'s development by changing electric vehicle tax subsidies and formally establishing autonomous driving technology standards have not been realized. In a report on February 4th, analysts Ben Kallo and Davis Sunderland from Robert W. Baird wrote that Musk sees fully autonomous driving as the "true value" of Tesla, Inc., and added that their enthusiasm for the autonomous driving taxi business has cooled after Tesla, Inc. dropped sales guidance in its fourth-quarter earnings report. While Musk's stake in Tesla, Inc. still accounts for the largest share of his $394.6 billion net worth, the recent decline in Tesla, Inc.'s stock price along with record fundraising for Musk's other companies (including xAI and SpaceX) means that the contribution of this automaker to his wealth has decreased relatively. Musk's 42% stake in SpaceX is currently worth $136 billion. Reportedly, Musk also leads an investor consortium that has actively proposed a near $95 billion acquisition of the developer of ChatGPT, OpenAI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on Musk's X social media platform rejecting this proposal.