Elon Musk could lose world’s richest person title as Tesla value almost halves

Founder's net worth down about $70bn after fall in electric car maker's share price since he bid for Twitter

Tesla has lost nearly half its market value since its founder, Elon Musk, bid for Twitter in April, reducing his net worth by about $70bn and putting his title as world's richest person at risk.

Shares in the electric car company traded at $340.79 on 13 April, the day before Twitter revealed in a securities filing that the billionaire had made a hostile bid to buy the social media company for $43.4bn. Since then the Tesla share price has plunged by 49% to $173.44 (141.29), also due to concerns around disruptions at one of its factories in Shanghai.