Elon Musk lost $10bn net worth in single day after sexual misconduct allegation emerged
Tesla chief Elon Musk lost $10bn of his net worth in a single day after allegations emerged that he sexually harassed a flight attendant.
Mr Musk’s wealth, which was about $212bn on Thursday as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, fell to about $201bn following reports of the allegation.
As of Monday he is currently worth about $207bn and is still the richest person in the world, according to the index.
The multibillionaire has denied the allegations that he sexually harassed a flight attendant, following Insider’s report that he exposed himself on a 2016 private jet flight to London.
The report said that the Tesla chief paid the flight attendant $250,000 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against him.
According to the report, the attendant accused Mr Musk of exposing himself to her, rubbing her leg without consent and offering to buy her a horse if she gave him an erotic massage.
Mr Musk has denied the accusations, calling them “utterly untrue” and adding “it never happened”.
He told Insider that the story was a “politically motivated hit piece”, adding that there was “a lot more to this story”.
In a series of posts on Twitter, the Tesla and SpaceX chief said: “The attacks against me should be viewed through a political lens - this is their standard (despicable) playbook - but nothing will deter me from fighting for a good future and your right to free speech.”
In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.
But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.
Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold … 🍿— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022
“And, for the record, those wild accusations are utterly untrue,” he said.
“But I have a challenge to this liar who claims their friend saw me ‘exposed’ - describe just one thing, anything at all (scars, tattoos, ...) that isn’t known by the public. She won’t be able to do so, because it never happened,” Mr Musk added.
The Tesla chief is currently negotiating a $44bn deal to buy social media giant Twitter.
Earlier this month the multibillionaire said his proposed takeover of Twitter was “on hold” as he looked for more information about spam, bots and fake accounts on the platform.
