Elon Musk gives up title of world’s richest man to Jeff Bezos

For Jeff Bezos, being at the top of wealth charts is something he’s all too familiar with.

For the first time in more than nine months, Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest man. Musk relinquished the top spot on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to Jeff Bezos after Tesla shares plunged 7.2% on Monday. Musk’s current net worth is $197.7 billion; Bezos’ wealth is $200.3 billion.

This is the first time since 2021 that 60-year-old Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, has appeared on Bloomberg’s richest list.

The wealth gap between Musk, 52, and Bezos was once as high as $142 billion, but has been narrowing as Amazon and Tesla share prices have moved in opposite directions. While both companies are among the so-called “Big Seven” stocks driving the U.S. stock market, Amazon’s stock price has more than doubled since the end of 2022 and is just one step away from an all-time high. Tesla shares are down about 50% from their 2021 peak.

Tesla shares fell on Monday after preliminary data showed shipments from its Shanghai factory fell to their lowest level in more than a year. Meanwhile, Amazon is seeing its best online sales growth since the early days of the pandemic.

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Musk’s fortune could take a further hit after a Delaware judge blocked his $55 billion compensation package as CEO of Tesla. The decision sides with an investor who has questioned Musk’s compensation plan, which is the largest in history.

The options included in the defunct plan were one of Musk’s biggest assets, along with his shares in Tesla and SpaceX. Bloomberg Indexes continue to include them in its wealth calculations.

The vast majority of Bezos’ wealth comes from his 9% stake in Amazon. He remains the online retailer’s largest shareholder despite selling off 50 million shares worth about $8.5 billion last month.

For Bezos, being at the top of the wealth charts is something he is all too familiar with. In 2017, he surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for the first time to become the world’s richest man.

But the sharp rise in Tesla’s stock price has left Bezos battling Musk for the top spot for much of 2021. By the end of that year he had been left far behind, and it was only now that he regained the number one spot.

Bernard Arnault, 74, is the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury goods manufacturer. He is also among the world’s richest people with a net worth of US$197.5 billion. The ranks of the wealthy.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)