Elon Musk loses $20 billion in 1 day after saying Tesla could keep cutting car prices to boost sales

The world's richest man Elon Musk lost a whopping $20 billion overnight after saying Tesla could keep cutting prices amidst 'turbulent times'.

On the real-time billionaires' lists of both Forbes and Bloomberg, the Tesla CEO came right on top of the biggest losers as of July 21.

While he remains the wealthiest person on earth, Musk's net worth dropped by $20.3 billion to $234 billion in just one day, based on Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Forbes' list also indicated a loss of $18.4 billion, putting his wealth at $238.4 billion as recorded at 5pm EST (1am, UAE time) of prior trading day,

The big blow narrowed the gap between Musk and the next richest person in the world, Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury goods maker LVMH. Arnault and his family's net worth climbed $952 million to $235.2 billion, based on Forbes' real-time list.

Musk's massive loss came as Tesla's shares tumbled 9.74 per cent — its biggest one-day percentage drop since April 20 after the electric-vehicle maker reported a slump in its second-quarter gross margins to a four-year low. The CEO's hint at more price cuts to boost sales didn't help at all.

The Tesla chief signalled on Wednesday that he would slash prices again on electric vehicles, even as his all-out price war on automaker rivals squeezes the company's own margins.

The company has pulled down prices several times since late last year, and increased discounts and other incentives to reduce inventory, as it tries to shield against competition and economic uncertainty.

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