Elon Musk Reclaims Title of World's Richest Person
The billionaire entrepreneur surpasses Arnault to reclaim the top spot
On December 8, 2022, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Twitter, dropped to second place on Forbes' list of real-time billionaires, putting him behind Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury brand LVMH. Forbes now estimates Musk's wealth at $183.6 billion, slightly below Arnault's estimated wealth of $186.2 billion.
Forbes attributes Arnault's rise to the fact that LVMH's stock has remained mostly flat this year, while Tesla's share price has experienced a "dramatic collapse," down 56% in 2022. Forbes also suggests that Musk's Twitter activity, particularly his controversial tweets and association with right-wing influencers, may be impacting Tesla's stock price.
Musk's wealth peaked in November 2021 when he was worth $320 billion, according to Forbes. Since then, Musk has sold off about $4 billion of Tesla stock to fund his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, which has faced issues including layoffs and concerns from advertisers about the platform's direction. Musk had also sold blocks of Tesla shares worth a total of $15.4 billion earlier this year when his deal to buy Twitter was announced.
Estimating Musk's wealth accurately is challenging because much of his money is tied up in his private companies, including SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.
Despite the recent losses, Musk remains far ahead of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who is worth $135 billion, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whose wealth is estimated at $113.1 billion.
However, on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, Musk is still in first place with a net worth of $171 billion, while Arnault sits in second place with a $166 billion net worth. Bloomberg notes that Musk has lost around $100 billion this year, according to their calculations. This list updates daily after the market closes.
Musk's recent success
Despite the setbacks and controversies, Musk has had some success in 2023. He won a federal civil trial in San Francisco earlier this month over whether he should be held liable for tweeting in 2018 that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private, though the transaction ultimately did not happen.
Musk also tweeted this month that Twitter was "trending to break even" and that he had to "save" the platform from bankruptcy. While he is still facing legal claims from laid-off Twitter employees and lawsuits from landlords claiming that Twitter offices have fallen behind on rent, Musk's acquisition of Twitter may provide a new avenue for him to continue expanding his influence and wealth.
Musk's position as the world's wealthiest person has periodically shifted between him, Arnault, and Bezos, but his recent fall from the top spot highlights the volatility of the billionaire rankings and the ever-changing nature of the global economy.