Elon Musk may be starting to put those take-private tweets behind him, but his fortune will need more time to recover.
The net worth of the Tesla Inc. (TSLA) chief executive officer stood at $24.4 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index the day before he publicized his ambition to take the company private at $420 a share. His wealth spiked by $1.4 billion on the day of his tweets, then fell to $21.4 billion within a month, after he abandoned the buyout effort without ever making a formal proposal to his board.
News of Musk’s settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission — which allowed him to keep calling the shots as CEO — reassured investors Monday, sending the shares and his wealth higher again.
Musk, 47, finished the day $1.7 billion richer, with a $23.2 billion fortune. That still leaves his net worth $1.2 billion less than before all that tweeting about going private.