Elon Musk’s net worth continued to plunge this week as shares of his two flagship companies, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX), retreated amid swirling merger speculation, with traders also positioning ahead of SpaceX’s upcoming earnings report.

Elon Musk Net Worth is Down $684 Billion From Peak

Bloomberg data showed that Musk’s wealth dropped by over $18 billion on Friday to $684 billion. At his peak, he was worth over $1.33 trillion, meaning he has lost more than $646 billion. His loss alone exceeds the combined net worth of Larry Page and Jeff Bezos, who were worth a combined $549 billion.

Tesla stock has plunged by 37% from its highest point this year. This sell-off continued after its recent earnings report, which showed that its cash burn accelerated in the second quarter because of the ongoing AI investments. Its gross margin also came short of expectations.

SpaceX, on the other hand, dropped to $108 on Friday, down sharply from the all-time high of $225. Its market cap has plunged from over $3 trillion to $1.4 trillion today. This retreat will be put to the test when it publishes its earnings on Tuesday next week.

Estimates are that its revenue rose to over $6.8 billion in the second quarter. This growth will continue, especially as it starts accounting for its data center revenue from companies like Reflection AI, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), and Anthropic. 

SpaceX and Tesla Merger Rumors Continue

Elon Musk’s net worth dropped amid rumors that Musk is considering merging SpaceX with Tesla, a move that will create one of the biggest conglomerates in the US. According to the WSJ, Musk is considering selling or spinning off Tesla’s Chinese operations to make the deal possible. 

Musk has been consolidating his businesses over the past two years. He merged X with xAI last year, creating a company spanning social media and AI. SpaceX then merged with xAI earlier this year. 

Around the same time, he launched Terafab, a multibillion-dollar semiconductor project in Austin, Texas, being developed jointly by Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, with Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) later joining to help with chip fabrication.

The challenge, however, is that investors have largely fallen out of favor with conglomerates in the past few years. Instead, they are rewarding companies that separate. A good example of this is General Electric, which separated into three companies: GE Aerospace, GE Healthcare, and GE Vernova.  

Image: Shutterstock