Gold price sees biggest decline since 1983 but Elon Musk's net worth could still come out on top
It's hard to put into context just how rich Elon Musk is, and while Oracle's Larry Ellison briefly overtook him to become the world’s richest man in September 2025, the tech overlord is firmly back in pole position.
According to Forbes' live billionaire tracker, Elon Musk's current net worth sits at an eye-watering $814.2 billion, which puts him well on the way to becoming the world's first trillionaire.
Known as the man behind Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI, the fact that Musk has his fingers in all kinds of tech pies means he's well-positioned to make money in the stock market.
Speaking of stocks, the price of gold has just hit a worrying low not seen in decades, and with it, the precious metal is in freefall. While you might expect this to negatively affect things across the board, Mr. Musk is tipped to add a few more dollars to his bank balance.
What is the current price of gold?
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As noted by The Street, gold has just been struck by its worst seven-day performance since 1983. The ongoing war between the USA and Iran is to blame, with gold facing a $500 dip from where it started last week and a general 14% drop since strikes began in February 2026.
Despite President Donald Trump remaining optimistic that the war in Iran is winding down and the USA will get its wish of wiping out its rival's potential nuclear capabilities, others aren't so sure.
The current price of gold is $4,403.02 per ounce, which represents a concerning negative $612.23 week change and sees it down 12%. This new price of gold is also a far cry from a January 28 high of $5,634.81 per ounce.
Even though it's definitely not looking great for gold, it's still had a $1,373.35 improvement in the past year alone.
Experts have already warned that the war will continue to cause stock market instability, while we've seen this in action with the soaring cost of oil.
The biggest doomsayers suggest that the economy could be brought to its knees in a matter of weeks, whereas Coin Bureau co-founder Nic Puckrin told CNBC that gold's troubles could just be starting. Puckrin reiterated: "What we’re seeing in precious metals signals that central banks and Gulf states are tapping into the gold reserves that they have built over the past couple of years.
The focus has moved from accumulation to capital preservation. This will put a natural cap on gold prices."
Why will Elon Musk make more money if gold prices decrease?
It might be hard to see how anyone is going to make money in this hostile environment, but Musk's companies effectively being the anti-gold suggest he could win big.
With oil prices surging and inflation fears on the rise, interest rates might stay higher for longer. Alongside this, investors are moving into the US dollar, which is especially good for Musk's US-based tech companies.
Gold prices taking a hit suggest that people will move away from safe assets and into more risky investments like tech stocks. There might be more demand for Tesla stocks, and as we saw when Musk’s net worth took a hammering due to backlash against Tesla during his DOGE days, his money is heavily tied to the electric car manufacturer. Even a minor shift in Tesla stocks can cause millions to be added or wiped off the billionaire's bank balance.
There's been heavy selling across gold, silver, and other metals like platinum, with all that money having to go somewhere else. Gold's winning streak that dominated 2025 might be coming to an end, but for Elon Musk, it looks like his Midas touch is going to continue.