London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 29, 2026

Crypto bites back? Elon Musk slips to No. 3 in world’s richest ranking after sending bitcoin nosediving

Crypto bites back? Elon Musk slips to No. 3 in world’s richest ranking after sending bitcoin nosediving

Tesla founder Elon Musk has been pushed down to third place in world’s richest ranking after shares in the carmaker tumbled. The plunge came after the billionaire sent the bitcoin market into panic with a single tweet.
Musk, who as recently as March climbed to the coveted top spot in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index before being edged out by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, lost his runner-up position to Bernard Arnaut, chairman of world’s largest luxury goods conglomerate LVMH on Monday, the Bloomberg reported.

The drop in Musk’s fortune, which is now estimated at $160.6 billion, some 24% lower since January, is believed to be driven by the lukewarm performance of Tesla’s stock, which fell by 2.1 percent on Monday to $576.83 – a far cry from the all-time high of $883.09 in January.

While Tesla shares are noted for taking a deep plunge on Mondays only to recover some of their value closer to the end of the week, it may well be that Musk’s bitcoin-themed Twitter posts finally caught up with him.

As recently as Sunday, Musk threw the world’s largest crypto into freefall after investors interpreted his single-word tweet as an indication that he might have sold or considered selling Tesla’s cryptocurrency stock. Musk tweeted “indeed” in response to a user who said that “bitcoiners are going to slap themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their #bitcoin holdings,” and that “with the amount of hate @elonmusk is getting, I wouldn’t blame him.”

The tweet sent ripples across the cryptocurrency world, with bitcoin careening to as low as $42,441 at one point in its biggest drop in three months.

While it regained some strength after Musk took to Twitter to clarify that Tesla had not sold any bitcoin, it didn’t quite bounce back and is trading at about $45,000 as of Monday evening.

Last week, Musk, who has been a proponent of cryptocurrencies, dealt another serious blow to the world’s leading crypto by announcing that Tesla would no longer accept payment for its vehicles in bitcoin, citing environmental concerns related to the use of fossil fuels in its mining. In February, Musk announced that the carmaker had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, sending the price of the token soaring.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
NHS Leaders Warn Royal Mail Tariff Increases Will Raise Administrative Costs
Immigration Remains the Public's Top Concern in Britain, Ipsos Poll Finds
Britain Approves 16 New Grid Storage Projects to Strengthen Electricity Network
London-Listed Merger Activity Climbs Even as IPO Market Remains Weak
Institute of Directors Warns High Energy Costs and Taxes Continue to Weigh on UK Businesses
North Sea Industry Calls for Faster Approval of £10 Billion Rosebank and Jackdaw Projects
UK Inflation Eases to 2.6% but Higher Energy Costs Could Renew Price Pressures
Burnham Holds Talks With Saudi and Qatari Leaders on Middle East Security and Energy
Burnham and Zelenskyy Announce UK Electronic Warfare Technology Cooperation During London Visit
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Launches Cross-Party Push for Social Care Reform in England
Trump says Israel ‘would not survive’ without US
France Evacuates Atlantic Coast Resorts as Wildfire Risk Rises Again
Magnitude 7.1 Earthquake Strikes Kumamoto as Rescuers Search Collapsed Buildings
OpenAI Faces Demands for Full Disclosure After Models Breach Hugging Face
Nvidia Reportedly Takes Vast Texas Data-Centre Lease to Underwrite AI Expansion
Royal Collection Trust Income Falls as Palace Visits Retreat From Record Highs
FIFA’s Private-Investment Plan for World Cup Rights Draws European Revolt
Ministers Examine Social-Care Levy as Burnham Seeks Funding Settlement
UK Attractions Sector Forecast to Add £587 Million in Visitor Spending
England Coast Path Extends With New Suffolk Estuary Walking Route
Attorney General Wins Longer Jail Term for Fatal Dangerous Driving Case
Andrew and Tristan Tate Remain in U.S. Custody Pending UK Extradition
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Workers Secure Above-Inflation Pay Deal
Prime Minister Seeks Cross-Party Agreement on Social Care Reform
Court Upholds Competition Ruling Against Drugmakers Over Hydrocortisone Prices
UK Unveils Major Technical Education Reform for Secondary Schools
UK Judge Rebukes Home Office Over AI-Generated Errors in Asylum Case
UK and Ukraine Agree to Share Electronic Warfare Technology
Apple Briefly Crosses Five Trillion Dollar Valuation as Investors Retreat From AI Bets
Badenoch Offers Tory Votes to Keep Serious Offenders in Prison
Why Americans Queue for $15 Ice Cream and a $100 Caviar Pint
Another AI Genius Left the United States — and Silicon Valley Is Starting to Worry
Shein Reports $99mn Loss as Trade Barriers Test Low-Cost Model
CXMT Gains 466% in China’s Biggest IPO Since 2010
Amazon Seeks Approval for 5,105-Satellite Mobile Network
Burnham Puts School-to-Work Reform at Centre of Welfare Strategy
Johnson & Johnson Agrees to $5.5 Billion Talc Lawsuit Settlement
EU AI Act Shapes Global Corporate Standards, Study Finds
UK-Japan Relations Expected to Deepen Under Burnham Government
Burnham Signals Tough Decisions on Council Tax Reform
UK Inflation Slows to 2.6% in June
Bank of England Holds Interest Rates at 3.75%
Prime Minister Burnham Opens Talks With Business Leaders on Economic Growth
Government Launches 'Number Ten North' to Drive UK Devolution
Labour Regains Poll Lead After Burnham's First Weeks in Office
Prime Minister Burnham Rules Out Early UK General Election Before 2029
Burnham Rules Out Replacing Council Tax and Stamp Duty
Fresh Heatwave Threatens to Rekindle France’s Historic Wildfire Crisis
The Burnham government is seeking to establish its credibility through ambitious social care reform while maintaining fiscal discipline and public confidence in the National Health Service. Labour's early improvement in opinion polls provides political momentum, but sustained support will depend on delivering tangible policy outcomes. Britain continues to reinforce its role in European security through long-term support for Ukraine, while climate-related risks, including increasingly severe wildfires across England and Scotland, are becoming a more prominent national resilience challenge alongside economic uncertainty.
United Kingdom Economy Remains Exposed to Global Energy Risks
×