Tesla stocks plummet by almost 50 per cent amid Elon Musk controversies

Tesla has lost half a trillion dollars as its founder Elon Musk has become embroiled in controversy, including a $350,000 sexual harassment pay-off.

Tesla has shed almost half its value since its November 2021 peak in what has been a horror few months for the company.

On Friday, the electric vehicle corporation plunged by 6.42 per cent on the stock market, then on Monday local time, Tesla shares fell by around 2 per cent.

It’s a far cry from just six months ago when Tesla’s market capitalisation was more than $US1 trillion ($A1.41 trillion).

For a brief moment in time, the company’s founder and CEO Elon Musk himself had a net worth that surpassed $US300 billion ($A423 billion), making him the first person in the history of the world to reach that level of wealth.

Now, however, Musk has a net worth of almost half that, at $US209.9 billion ($A294 billion) at time of writing, corresponding with Tesla going down in value by around 45 per cent over the last six months.

Tesla’s total losses represent around $US558.19 billion ($A790 billion) wiped off the Tesla’s market capitalisation since November last year.

For context, however, the amount of money Tesla has haemorrhaged consists of more than the overall worth of the next five largest car manufactures combined – Toyota, Volkswagen, BYD, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.

Some commentators believe supply chain issues, competition from rivals and controversies Elon Musk has become embroiled in have further spooked investors.

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Tesla has lost half a trillion dollars over the last six month. Picture: Chris Delmas/AFP

Like most manufacturing businesses around the world, Tesla has been struggling to source important materials and parts as supply chains have been interrupted by Covid-19 as well as the Ukraine-Russia war.

Rampant inflation in the US is also making materials significantly more expensive.

Last month the S&P 500 ESG Index, a US listing of companies that are required to meet environmental, social and governance standards, deemed Tesla did not meet these standards and removed Tesla from the list.

The listing found that racial discrimination and poor working conditions in Tesla’s factories meant it did not meet the stringent criteria.

However, most have attributed Tesla’s declining fortunes to the scandals of its controversial founder, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world.

Both Mr Musk’s personal wealth and Tesla’s share price is understood to have dropped since Wednesday last week, when sexual harassment allegations surfaced.

On May 19, Business Insider claimed that in 2016 Musk exposed himself to a flight attendant on a SpaceX private jet, rubbing her leg without consent and offered payment in exchange for an erotic massage.

It then emerged that Mr Musk had supposedly paid the woman $US250,000 ($A352,000) in 2018 to settle the sexual misconduct claim.

Mr Musk’s personal net worth plummeted by $US10 billion ($A14 billion) in a single day after the allegations came to light, and Tesla similarly suffered.

Elon Musk and his company have been losing value since they peaked last year. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP

A Tesla Model 3 car is seen at a Tesla showroom. Picture: Jade Gao/AFP

Mr Musk has also captured the world’s attention since April after inking in a $US44 billion ($A64 billion) deal to purchase social media giant Twitter.

The billionaire has apparently lost $US45 billon ($A63 billion) from his personal fortune since announcing the deal.

And he’s set to lose another billion dollars if he pulls out of the deal, which experts think he is gearing up to do.

Earlier this month Mr Musk warned he was putting a temporary halt on his much-anticipated deal to buy Twitter, sending shares in the social media giant plunging.

“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5 per cent of users,” he wrote on Twitter.

Analysts have speculated the move could be a way for Mr Musk to renegotiate the price or scrap the deal altogether.

If Mr Musk ends the deal he is on the nose for a $US1 billion ($A1.5 billion) penalty to Twitter.

Originally published as Tesla stocks plummet by almost 50 per cent amid Elon Musk controversies