After more than nine months, Elon Musk once again lost his "world's richest man" throne.
As of the close of the US stock market on Monday, Tesla's stock price plummeted by 7.2%. As a result, Musk lost his position at the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and gave way to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Data shows that Musk's current net assets are $1977 billion, while Bezos's wealth is $2003 billion.
This is the first time since 2021 that the 60 year old Bezos has regained the title of "world's richest man". It is understood that the wealth gap between Musk and Bezos was once as high as $142 billion. But as the stock prices of Amazon and Tesla go against each other, this gap has been narrowing.
Although both companies are members of the "tech seven", Amazon's stock price has more than doubled since the end of 2022, and is close to historical highs. Tesla's stock price has fallen by about 50% from its peak in 2021, making it the worst performing among the seven giants.
Tesla's stock price plummeted on Monday, following a decline in sales in China in February and facing increasingly fierce competition in the country. According to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Tesla sold 60365 vehicles in China in February, a year-on-year decrease of 19%, the lowest level since December 2022.
Meanwhile, Amazon is achieving its best online sales growth rate since the early stages of the pandemic.
Continuously striking
It is worth noting that Musk's wealth may be further hit.
Previously, a judge in Delaware ruled that Tesla's board of directors had invalidated Musk's exorbitant $55 billion salary. At present, Musk's main assets come from the options included in this compensation plan, as well as his holdings of Tesla and SpaceX shares. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index still includes these options when calculating Musk's wealth.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Bezos' wealth comes from his 9% stake in Amazon. He is the largest shareholder of this online retailer, despite selling approximately $8.5 billion worth of 50 million Amazon shares last month.
Moreover, for Bezos, being at the top of the wealth ranking is a familiar thing. In 2017, he surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for the first time to become the world's richest person.
But with Tesla's stock price soaring, Bezos spent most of 2021 competing with Musk for the top spot. Later that year, he fell far behind and only now has he regained the first place.
Bernard Arnault, the 74 year old chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMH, also surpassed Musk to become the world's richest person in 2022. Currently, his net assets are $1975 billion, ranking third.