The richest man in the world has lost almost $17 billion after laying off 10% of his electric vehicle maker’s employees.

The market immediately reacted to Elon Musk's announcement about planned job cuts at factories. As a result, he lost $16.9 billion in just one day. Tesla shares closed 9.2% lower on news that Musk plans to cut 10% of jobs. The entrepreneur's fortune is now estimated at $216.8 billion.

“The biggest thing that investors are probably thinking is that they want Musk to shut up,” Miller Tabak’s chief market strategist Matt Maley said. “He was strangely quiet last week and the stock finally saw a nice rally,” he added.

Musk has been involved in streamlining the work process before. After buying Twitter for $44 billion, he wanted to cut salaries for the social network's employees. This also harmed the company's share price. 

Tesla Motors was founded in 2003 as a developer and manufacturer of electric vehicles and related technologies. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. In addition to electric cars, it produces batteries and electric motors for Toyota and Daimler.