Reply asking me to work this out a bit:
Prerequisite assignment: read up on the “law” (phenomenon, really) of supply and demand if you aren’t already versed in it. Then:
If the supply of used Teslas increases, the price of used Teslas goes down. At least some prospective buyers would consider new or used; new competes with used, as is typical. The lower used price thus depresses demand for new Teslas, which drives down the new vehicle price as well.
(But what if nobody will •buy• the used Teslas? Then the people want to sell will offer lower prices until they •do• find a buyer. This is •why• the supply and demand phenomenon happens; please refer to the prereq reading.)
Furthermore, people have typically bought Teslas with the expectation of a high resale value, which makes them tolerate a higher price. If resale value drops, that reduces demand (and thus price) for •all• Teslas, new and used. This may create a feedback effect.
People buy stocks on the assumption that a company will be worth more in the future, so that the stock is worth more when they sell it than it was when they bought it. Stocks are thus priced based on an expectation of a company’s •future• profits. If profits decrease — or if people merely •expect• them to decrease — then the stock price tends to decrease too. This is why companies’ stocks so often move immediately after earnings reports: those reports adjust future expectations.
Musk’s wealth is not all cash. A very large portion of it is tied up in stock, especially Tesla stock. It’s hypothetical money until he sells the stocks. Because he owns such a large portion of the available Tesla stock, he cannot sell too much too quickly without causing the stock value to tank. And if Tesla share prices drop, a bunch of Musk’s still-hypothetical money vanishes — either because he sold, or because he didn’t.
(I welcome corrections from anyone better qualified than me to do this writeup.)