A Tesla crash that claimed the lives of two men has led to Elon Musk dropping to the number-three spot on the list of the world’s richest men, Forbes reported.
The accident happened in a residential area in Woodlands, Houston, Texas, at 11:25 p.m. (local time) on April 17.
By close of business on April 19, Musk’s fortune had declined as shares of his electric car company dropped following reports of the fatal crash involving a Tesla 2019 Model S.
The CEO tweeted days before the accident that a “Tesla with Autopilot engaged now approaching ten times lower chance of accident than average vehicle.”
He backed his claim with Tesla’s Q1 2021 report, which revealed the following:
– Tesla recorded one accident for every 4.19 million miles driven with autopilot engaged.
– One accident was recorded for every 2.05 million miles driven with other safety features employed, without autopilot.
– Tesla recorded only one casualty for every 978,000 miles driven without autopilot and other safety features engaged.
The New York Times reported that Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman confirmed that physical evidence from the scene of the crash and interviews with witnesses led officials “to believe no one was driving the vehicle at the time.”
Musk’s fortune still forges ahead despite the downgrade
Tesla’s shares declined by 3.8 percent shortly after the crash, chopping $5.6 billion off Musk’s fortune and leaving him with $174.1 billion. Musk followed LVMH’s Bernard Arnault, who has a net worth of $180.3 billion, and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who topped the list with $195.9 billion.
However, Musk’s fortune soon again rose to $180.6 billion, a 2.92-percent increase ($5.1 billion) after the drop, but was still behind Arnault, whose fortune amounted to $183.9 billion. Bezos still led the pack with an overall net worth of $195.8 billion.
