According to the latest update of Bloomberg’s index of the world’s richest men, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has dislodged Elon Musk from the top spot. The head of Tesla, SpaceX and X is now in second place. A crossroads for two entrepreneurial geniuses.
Bloomberg, oh Bloomberg, am I the richest man in the world?
No, Elon (Musk), you’re not…because Jeff (Bezos) is.
The story shouldn’t turn melodramatic like Snow White. But Bloomberg’s latest index of the world’s richest men, updated on March 5, has delivered its verdict.
With a fortune of $197.7 billion, Elon Musk, head of carmaker Tesla, astronautics company SpaceX and social network X (formerly Twitter) is no longer the planet’s No. 1 billionaire. He has been overtaken by Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $200.3 billion. It’s the first time in over nine months that Elon Musk has fallen from the top of the podium.
At the top of the Bloomberg rankings
This is the first time that Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com Inc., has topped the Bloomberg rankings since 2021, when the index was created. Before the index was established, Jeff Bezos had already won the title of richest man in the world in 2017, ahead of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The list was compiled by Forbes magazine.
Jeff Bezos, the Space Cowboy © Getty Images
In January 2021, according to the first Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk had become, at the age of 49, the richest man in the world, with a fortune then estimated at $251.3 billion.
The movement that has once again lifted Jeff Bezos into first place ahead of Elon Musk is in line with that of the shares of their respective flagships, Tesla for the former and Amazon for the latter. Although they operate in very different sectors (electric cars and online sales), both are part of the “Magnificent Seven” (which lists the main drivers of stock markets across the Atlantic) and have stood out from the outset for their disruptive, high-tech approach.
According to a Forbes estimate, 99% of Elon Musk’s fortune is made up of Tesla and SpaceX shares. While Jeff Bezos derives most of his wealth from his position as the largest shareholder in Amazon (9% of the capital), which he founded in 1994 but ceased to run in mid-2021.
Contrasting stock market trends
However, since 2021, Amazon and Tesla have moved in opposite directions on the stock market. While Amazon’s shares have more than doubled since the end of 2022, Tesla’s have lost around 50% since their peak in 2022, and 25% in the last year.
But the current fortunes of both billionaires could be trimmed somewhat before long.
Jeff Bezos recently sold $8.5 billion worth of Amazon shares. And he will have to pay a capital gain tax, which could cost him his first place on the Bloomberg podium, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For his part, Elon Musk also has a pebble in his shoe. At the end of January, a Delaware judge overturned a $55 billion stock compensation plan granted to Elon Musk in 2018 as Tesla CEO. A shareholder of the automotive brand had taken legal action against this outrageous program. However, the options included in the cancelled plan represent a significant proportion of the totals realized by Bloomberg…
If the cards have been reshuffled, the new deal could benefit France’s Bernard Arnault. In the latest Bloomberg Index, the founder and CEO of Lvmh, the number one luxury goods company, retains third place, thanks to his $197 billion fortune. But according to Forbes magazine’s rankings, Bernard Arnault was the world’s richest man in 2023, ahead of Elon Musk.
The billionaire match
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