Elon Musk has been knocked off the top of Forbes’ annual “World’s Billionaire List.”
The Tesla and Twitter CEO is now the world’s second-richest billionaire, valued at an estimated $180 billion (approx. Ksh.23.9 trillion), down $39 billion (approx. Ksh.5.2 trillion) from the previous year.
The top spot has gone to Bernard Arnault, chairman of the French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. In the last year, his net worth increased by more than $50 billion (Ksh.6.7 trillion) to $211 billion. (around Ksh.28.1 trillion).
This should come as no surprise to Musk, whose position has shifted on Forbes’ “Real-Time Billionaires” list, which is updated daily, in recent months. He and Arnault frequently swap places.
Tuesday’s list, on the other hand, tracks his wealth on an annual basis. According to Forbes, Musk’s wealth has declined because his $44 billion (approx. Ksh.5.9 trillion) Twitter purchase, funded by Tesla shares, scared investors and caused Tesla stock to plummet last year.
Tesla has recovered much of its losses this year, but it is still significantly lower than it was before Musk purchased Twitter.
Musk has “mostly tweeted himself out of the top spot on the ranks,” according to Forbes because Tesla shares are down 50% since his Twitter takeover a year ago.
According to the magazine, SpaceX is a bright spot for the billionaire, as its valuation has risen from $13 billion (approx. Ksh.1.7 trillion) to $140 billion (Ksh.18.6 trillion) in the last year.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos lost the most money of any billionaire on the list, $57 billion (approx. Ksh.18.6 trillion), dropping him from second to third place.
The loss is due to Amazon stock losing nearly 40% of its value last year.
According to Forbes, Arnault had a “banner year” in 2022 due to record-high profits at the luxury conglomerate, which includes Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany & Co.
LVMH shares have increased by 25% in the last year, and the patriarch has recently revealed succession plans for his children.
According to Forbes, the total number of billionaires on this year’s list has dropped to 2,640 (down from 2,668), marking the second consecutive year of decline.
“It’s been another unusually bad year for the world’s wealthiest people,” said Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes senior editor of wealth, in a statement. “Nearly half of those on the list are poorer than they were a year ago, but a lucky few are billions — or even tens of billions — richer.”
More than 250 people from last year’s list did not appear this year, including Kanye West, who lost his Adidas contract, and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who lost 94% of his wealth in one day.
