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It has been a week of highs and lows for multibillionaire Elon Musk, whose net worth plummeted 10.83 per cent — or $29 billion — to $239.2bn overnight after shares in his electric-vehicle maker Tesla plunged 12 per cent in New York trading, wiping about $126bn off the company's value, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.
Tesla investors are concerned Mr Musk may have to sell shares to complete his $44bn takeover of Twitter, which was approved by the social media company's board of directors this week, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the 50-year-old founder and chief executive of Tesla and rocket company SpaceX had a net worth of $268.2bn, the Forbes data showed.
However, it isn't the first time Mr Musk's net worth has taken a beating.
On November 14, Mr Musk lost a record $50bn after Tesla shares plunged two days in a row.
“It is the biggest two-day decline in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and the highest one-day fall after [Amazon founder] Jeff Bezos’s $36bn decline after his divorce from MacKenzie Scott in 2019,” Bloomberg reported at the time.
Just two weeks earlier, on October 28, 2021, Mr Musk became the first person on the planet to be worth more than $300bn, with a personal fortune of $302bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The drop in Mr Musk's current net worth narrows his lead over Mr Bezos — the world's second-richest person with a personal fortune of $165.2bn — to $74bn.
The Canadian-American businessman, who was born in South Africa and has seven children, owns about 17 per cent of Tesla, a February 2021 regulatory filing showed.
His stake in privately held SpaceX is valued at about $40.3bn, figures compiled by Bloomberg show.
Mr Musk made his first millions in the 1990s, when he sold his first company, Zip2, for more than $300 million. He then launched X.com, an online payment system that eventually became PayPal, which he sold to eBay for $1.5bn in 2002.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock price plunge comes amid a broader sell-off in equity markets around the world due to slower economic expansion and persistent inflation, according to Bloomberg.
This means Mr Musk wasn't the only billionaire to lose a sizeable slice of his personal fortune overnight, with the net worth of eight of the world's top 10 richest billionaires also falling a combined $51.7bn, according to the Forbes data.
However, there were two wealth-gainers in the top 10 list.
Self-made billionaire and Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, now the world's fifth-richest person, added $4.7bn, or 3.86 per cent, to his net worth of $126.6bn, while Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani climbed two places in the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List to become the seventh-richest person on the planet with a net worth of $105.6bn, up $4bn, or 3.94 per cent.
Top 10 richest people in the world
- Elon Musk: $239.2bn
- Jeff Bezos: $165.2bn
- Bernard Arnault: $157.4bn
- Bill Gates: $129.4bn
- Gautam Adani: $126.6bn
- Warren Buffett: $119.8bn
- Mukesh Ambani: $105.6bn
- Larry Ellison: $103.8bn
- Larry Page: $102bn
- Sergey Brin: $98.1bn
Source: Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List
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World's top 10 richest women in 2022 — in pictures
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
More from Janine di Giovanni
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
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Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
