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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk lost a whopping $13.3 billion as Russia invaded Ukraine, taking his net worth to below $200 billion as the global markets plummeted.

Musk was the second person, after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, to reach the hallowed $200 billion mark.

The Tesla CEO's net worth was roughly $199 billion while Bezos' net worth was around $176 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires' index.

Tesla's shares fell for the fifth-straight day to $700 late on Thursday, its lowest evaluation since August as the war erupted. It later rebounded to $768 a share.

Musk owns 172.6 million shares in the electric car maker.

Musk, still the world's richest man, has seen $72 billion wiped from his fortune to date this year.

Asian markets and US stock futures plunged on Thursday as Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 3.2 per cent, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.7 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 2.4 per cent after coming back from a holiday and China's Shanghai Composite moved 0.9 per cent lower.

US stocks futures also tumbled. Dow futures were down as much as 780 points, or 2.4 per cent. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were down 2.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent, respectively.