27 January 2024 , 21:42
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Elon Musk showed "regret" and a "wince of pain" after losing more than half of his entire net worth, claims a leading body language expert.
The Mirror published pictures of the X, formally Twitter, owner stepping out after news his multi-billion-pound fortune had more than halved in just over a year. He looked downcast, but now we've learnt more about how the entrepreneur was really feeling.
Judi James analysed the photographs, providing her expert opinions on Tesla CEO Musk's mood as he left a hotel in Los Angeles on Friday. "Elon Musk looks uncharacteristically dishevelled and downbeat here," she explained after he walked out in an all-black suit.
READ MORE: Elon Musk looks downcast and worn out after net worth suffers from Tesla stock drops
Elon looked downcast as he stepped out on Friday (Getty Images)She explained: "His normally slick hair looks tousled and his beard less kempt than usual. The skin of his face appears pale and less taunt than usual and his shoulders appear slumped, suggesting tiredness. Musk is normally seen wearing a confident beaming smile but here his eyes are downcast and his lips are pursed.
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"At one point they are pursed tight and slewed to the side in a gesture normally associated with regret or a wince of pain," Judi concluded. Musk's difficult financial situation comes after his company was recently overtaken by Chinese company, Byd, for top Electric vehicle seller as Musk suggested that unless regulations on imports were adjusted, his company would have no chance of competing.
Tesla was said to have dropped by $88 billion (£69 billion) on the markets last week, and with Musk holding more than one-eighth of the company’s shares, the value of his holding plunged by about $11.3 billion. At one stage, Musk's net worth was $340 billion (£270 billion), but it has declined as investor excitement about Tesla cooled, while the value of social media platform X, known as Twitter before Musk bought it, is believed to have plunged from the $44 billion (£35 billion) purchase price Musk paid for it.
Mr Musk has now lost his spot as the world's richest man to French businessman Bernard Arnault. Other US billionaires have seen their wealth decline significantly over the last year too. Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Oracle’s Larry Ellison and Google's Larry Page have lost more than $180 billion (£141 billion) combined since January.
Last year the Tesla billionaire had another reason to be downcast as according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index he lost $208 billion - about £172 billion - in the last 13 months, mainly due to a downturn in Tesla's stock price. It is thought to be the biggest ever financial loss of an individual's net worth and was more than half of Mr Musk's total portfolio, which peaked at $338 billion (£266 billion) in November 2021.