Elon Musk's Wealth Plunges $363 Billion, Biggest Loss Ever Recorded

Elon Musk remained the world’s richest person in August 2026 despite suffering an estimated $363 billion decline in his net worth during July. His fortune fell to approximately $690 billion by August 1, marking what was described as the largest monthly wealth loss ever recorded for an individual and his lowest net worth since December 2025.

Musk had briefly become the first person in history to accumulate a fortune of $1 trillion after SpaceX went public on June 12. However, a sharp decline in the company’s share price during the following month erased a substantial portion of those gains. Despite the fall, his remaining fortune kept him comfortably ahead of every other billionaire.

The scale of Musk’s monthly loss exceeded the individual net worth of each of the nine people ranked immediately below him. His decline also accounted for most of the reduction in the combined wealth of the world’s 10 richest people, whose collective fortune fell by an estimated $368 billion from the previous month to approximately $2.6 trillion.

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Google co-founder Larry Page occupied second place after his fortune increased by an estimated $1 billion to $292 billion. Although the gain was modest compared with the dramatic movement in Musk’s wealth, it widened Page’s position among the leading technology billionaires and left him as the nearest person to Musk in the August ranking.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos rose to third place, overtaking Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Brin slipped to fourth despite adding approximately $1 billion to his own fortune during the month. The change illustrates how rankings can shift even when an individual’s wealth increases, depending on larger movements in the fortunes of those placed nearby.

Most of the individuals occupying the highest positions derive substantial portions of their wealth from stakes in publicly traded or privately valued technology companies. Consequently, their estimated fortunes can change rapidly with share prices and company valuations. The remaining names and individual wealth estimates from the August top-10 ranking were not included in the available report.

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