Experts have explained why Elon Musk’s net worth has plummeted by a whopping $102 billion in just two months.

The richest man in the world has seen a huge hit to his wealth in recent weeks.

And one financial expert has lifted the lid on why the Tesla boss is experiencing such a drop.

Elon Musk is the unelected head of DOGE (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

While we’ll keep our tiny violins to one side for now – after all, the mogul is hardly experiencing the depths of financial woes, Musk has seen his bank balance take quite the hit recently, with his net worth dropping by around 24%.

According to a report by Entrepreneur, this is due to a plummet in Tesla share prices, which have dropped from $404 to $263 this year.

And there could be a simple explanation for the downturn in value, according to experts.

Recently, Musk has taken center stage in the Trump administration after campaigning for President Donald Trump’s election win and subsequently being appointed as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

While technically not a government department, DOGE is purported to act as an outside advisor to the president on federal spending.

Although, concerns have been raised over Musk’s access to confidential data in the Treasury payment system and his close proximity to government seems to have ruffled a few feathers within Tesla too.

Tesla share prices have plummeted (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, as per Barrons: “While the DOGE/Trump Musk iron-clad partnership has created major brand worries for Tesla … we estimate less than five percent of Tesla sales globally are at risk from these issues.

“We expect Musk will better balance his time between DOGE and Tesla/SpaceX over the course of 2025.”

Musk became the CEO of Tesla back in October 2008, succeeding Ze’ev Drori, who became vice-chairman before exiting the company two months later.

Under the mogul, the company has launched a handful of well-selling electric vehicles, including the Cybertruck, which first began production in November 2023.

In the US, a top-spec Cybertruck will set you back by anything from $74,000 to $94,000, according to Car Wow.

Although, Tesla shareholders have been publicly venting their thoughts on the billionaire now splitting his time between various job roles.

One shareholder even demanded on X, formerly Twitter, that Musk share ‘five things he’s done for them this week’.

The jibe appeared to use Musk’s own words against him as it referenced a controversial email sent out by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) which demanded federal employees justify their paychecks.

A federal worker who was fired by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has spoken to CNN about the moment she found out. And what’s worse, she voted for Donald Trump.

The Department of Government Efficiency is taking no prisoners, and with Elon Musk heading up a team that’s attempting to slash $2 trillion from government spending, we always knew that heads were going to roll.

President Donald Trump says that while he’s happy with the work his ‘First Buddy’ and the DOGE are doing, he wants them to be ‘more aggressive.’ It seems Musk has taken this in his stride, sending out a mass email that demanded staff justify their accomplishments.

Musk and Trump have been slashing jobs across the government (Andrew Harnik / Staff / Getty)

Alongside concerns that Musk’s email could be illegal, a federal judge has found that the mass firing of thousands of probationary employees was likely ‘unlawful.’ That hasn’t stopped legions of workers from being given the boot. Among them is Ryleigh Cooper, a former U.S. Forest Service worker who is baffled that she lost her job even though she voted for Trump.

As explained by CNN, Cooper’s dreams of becoming a mother were spurred on by Trump claiming he’d make IVF free. Unfortunately for Cooper, she didn’t know that her vote would come at the cost of her job.

CNN’s Laura Coates spoke to Cooper and asked what it was like to learn she was being let go. Cooper admitted: “It was really hard. I was on the phone with my best friend Kelly at the time. We were just discussing her life and how things were going, and I looked at my phone, and I had gotten a text from our union rep.

“He told me that I was going to be fired the next day, and I told her, ‘I have to go, I’m getting fired tomorrow.’ And my heart just sank.”

When Coates discussed the idea that the American people want to see a streamlined government, and this is something Trump is delivering on, Cooper said this wasn’t the reason she voted for him.

Referring to herself as a swing voter, Cooper said Trump’s promise of fertility treatment was the single issue that got her vote: “I want to be a mom. Women who have gone through that experience, that heartbreaking feeling of wanting something that you might never have, they understand how much of your time is taken up with those thoughts, and how overwhelming and lonely it can feel.”

When asked if she regretted voting for Trump, Cooper solemnly said that she feels regret and has had “a lot of tumultuous thoughts about that day.” Saying it’s easy to get tunnel vision when you aren’t given an endless amount of options, she continued: “I also had to come to terms with the fact that I was likely going to be a part of, you know, taking chances away from other groups of people, and that’s never sat well with me.”

Cooper says she’s been getting a lot of hate mail for speaking out about both voting for Trump and her firing: “I’ve had people tell me that they hope I never have a child and I got exactly what I deserve.

“As much as all the terrible comments have been coming through, I’ve also received an immense amount of support, especially from women who have gone through IVF, who struggle with infertility.”

While disappointed by her current situation, Cooper hopes it highlights the issue of infertility among women in the USA. Sadly, Trump’s February 18 “Expanding Access to in Vitro Fertilization” executive order simply reduces the cost of treatment and hasn’t actually made it free.

A fork in the road appears to have formed for Elon Musk’s Tesla, as the electric vehicle manufacturer has issued a stark warning to Trump’s trade administration regarding the harm tariffs could do to the company.

It would be hard to argue against the fact that Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US election has been incredibly beneficial for Elon Musk as an individual and Tesla as a company, as both saw their values increase dramatically in the months immediately following last November.

Musk’s increased power within the government, while incredibly controversial, has raised his profile significantly and also given him a close and incredibly powerful ally in the president.

While Tesla has seen it’s first sales decline in nearly a decade and continues to lose value on the stock market in recent weeks, the car company retains strong support from President Trump, shown best in a bizarre publicity stunt outside the White House where Trump claimed he would buy a ‘brand new Tesla’ and that vandalism towards Tesla dealerships will be classified as ‘domestic terrorism’.

Musk’s close relationship with Tesla proved to be incredibly beneficial in the months following the election (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

In a shocking contradiction of this confidence, however, company representatives from Tesla have written a letter to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer regarding the harmful impact of President Trump’s tariffs on the vehicle company’s international exports, as reported by CNN.

“As a U.S. manufacturer and exporter,” the letter illustrates, “Tesla encourages USTR to consider the downstream impacts of certain proposed actions taken to address unfair trade practices.

“While Tesla recognizes and supports the importance of fair trade, the assessment undertaken by USTR of potential actions to rectify unfair trade should also take into account exports from the United States.”

This comes at a time where the Trump administration’s aggressive trade policies involving tariffs open the door up for retaliatory actions by targeted countries, which would in turn harm the exported sales of Tesla vehicles outside of the United States.

Further CNN reports indicate that Tesla sales are already down around 45% in Europe during the month of January, so further tariffs which would either increase the price for the consumer or incur additional costs for Tesla would stand to lose the company more money.

The letter also outlined that the Trade Representative should consider the “limitations in the domestic supply chain,” making reference to the necessity of important key components such as lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle production.

Tesla argues that it still relies on imports of key components for their electric vehicles (Xiaolu Chu/Getty Images)

While Tesla themselves do have some factories within the US capable of producing lithium-ion batteries and other key parts, the company likely still relies heavily on imports from countries like China, who have been hit heavily by tariffs from the US government.

China is also Tesla’s second largest market, as per Reuters, delivering record sales in 2024 with 36.7% of all vehicle sales made in the country, so any retaliatory tariffs from the Chinese government on EVs would significant harm their profits – especially as the market has grown increasingly competitive with offerings from rivals like Xiaomi and BYD, reported by the New York Times.

If you like to put the pedal to the metal, you might want to avoid running for President of the United States, as a bizarre stipulation means you probably won’t be able to make the most of your classic car collection.

We’re used to seeing President Donald Trump being motored around in his armored vehicle known as ‘The Beast’. Stocked with the POTUS’ blood type, door handles that can shock attackers, and bulletproof windows, the $1.5 million vehicle can withstand chemical attacks and is Trump’s regular runaround.

Still, Trump has boasted an impressive car collection over the years, including a 1956 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, 2015 Rolls-Royce Phantom Saloon, and even an OG Tesla Roadster.

With the recent drama surrounding Tesla, Trump has gotten firmly behind best buddy Elon Musk and bought a brand-new EV.

The POTUS won’t be able to take his new Tesla for a spin (Andrew Harnik / Staff / Getty)

Turning the White House into his own personal Tesla showroom, the POTUS posed in front of a fleet of Teslas and picked out a shiny red Model S that retails at around $80,000.

The President joked about “giving the Secret Service a heart attack” as he sat in the driver’s seat and said about how the vehicle can reach 95 kilometers per hour in just few seconds.

Saying, “That’s beautiful, that one,” Trump continued: “I’ll give him a check. I do it the old fashioned way …and I don’t want a discount.”

Speaking to the crowd, Trump concluded: “Here’s the bad news. I’m not allowed to drive the car

“I haven’t driven a car in a long time and I like to drive cars. But I’m going to have [the Tesla] in the White House and I’m going to let my staff use it. I’m going to let the people in the country use it and everyone is excited about it. I’m not allowed to use it. Can you believe it?”

It’s not a case of Trump not wanting to drive the Model S – he’s not allowed.

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, the Secret Service enacted a rule that no serving or former President can drive on the roads. Lyndon Johnson was the last President to drive on public roads, and although the rule isn’t law, it’s adhered to by all parties.

Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all steer clear of getting behind the wheel, while Hillary Clinton says she hasn’t driven since 1996.

The fact that former Presidents aren’t allowed to drive is a cause of contention for them, with Clinton telling Ellen DeGeneres that not being able to drive is the thing he misses the most. Speaking in 2012, he joked: “I mean, if I wanted to give up Secret Service protection for life, I could do it.”

The same year, President Obama was seen driving a Chevy Volt around the White House, with Secret Service agents closing the gates so he wasn’t driving in public. When serving as Vice President, Joe Biden lodged a complaint when speaking at the United Auto Workers conference in 2014, grumbling: “There are a lot of reasons to run for president, but there’s one overwhelming reason not to run for president. I like to get that [Corvette] Z06 from zero to 60 in 3.4 seconds.”

Biden used his appearance on Jay Leno’s Garage to give his ’67 Corvette a rare drive around a Secret Service training area in Maryland.

The Secret Service are tasked with keeping the President and former Presidents safe because they’re trained in “evasive and defensive driving maneuvers,” and while we’re not questioning the driving skills of the POTUS, it looks like he’ll have to admire his new Tesla from afar.