Billionaire Elon Musk saw his net worth fall on April 19, as shares of his electric car company dropped following reports that two people died in a fatal Tesla crash over the weekend, Report informs referring to Forbes.
Shares of Tesla were down 3.8 percent on April 19, shaving $5.6 billion off Musk’s fortune. He’s now worth $174.1 billion, according to Forbes estimates. The Tesla CEO and cofounder is the third-richest person in the world—behind Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of $195.9 billion, and French luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, who is worth $180.3 billion.
Tesla’s stock fell on April 19 amid reports that two men died after their 2019 Tesla Model S crashed into a tree north of Houston on April 17 night. Local authorities said that they believed the vehicle was operating without anyone in the driver’s seat - with one of the men reportedly in the front passenger’s seat and the other in the back seat of the Tesla. The vehicle was traveling at high speeds along a curve before veering off the road and bursting into flames, police said.
While electric vehicles are not necessarily more dangerous than gas-powered vehicles, high-voltage lithium batteries like the ones used in Tesla can reignite even after an initial fire is put out, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.