Elon Musk is the second richest person on the planet. But just for a moment. Last week, Forbes announced it Bernard Arnault, president and CEO of luxury brand company LVMH, outperformed him again after the movements in the shares of both billionaires’ companies. But this Monday, the leader of Tesla and SpaceX topped the richest people list again.
According to the latest update which tracks the list of billionaires in real time, Elon Musk is worth $208.8 billion. While Arnault’s is now just below: adding up to $208.5 billion. But the story changes practically from minute to minute, so it is likely that we will see more exchanges of positions between the two tycoons.
Forbes announced last Friday that Elon Musk had lost the top spot for the first time since last June. In his report, he highlighted two key movements. On the one hand, LVMH shares increased by more than 13% on Friday morning after announcing that they had set a sales record in 2023. The French group said on Thursday that its sales and profits rose by 9% and 8% compared to 2022.
The opposite is Tesla, headed by Elon Musk. Shares of the automaker fell by about 13% last Thursday. This caused the South African-born entrepreneur, also the owner of Twitter, to lose more than $18 billion in net worth.
Tesla shares fell after Elon Musk told investors that ramping up production of his new vehicle would be a “challenge.” He explained that “tremendous new revolutionary manufacturing technologies” would be required. And that any boost to the company’s growth would take some time.
Elon Musk also warned of a growing impact on Chinese competition in the market. “Frankly, I think if trade barriers are not created, they will practically destroy most companies in the world,” he noted at the 2023 fourth quarter financial close meeting.
Bernard Arnault’s emporium, which is in contention for the top spot with Elon Musk
Tesla gained 3.1% after the Wall Street close this Monday. That would explain why Elon Musk is back on top. It’s a continuous cycle of “ups and downs.” For example, a Frenchman was the richest person in the world for most of 2023. But Tesla’s CEO surpassed him in June when his wealth soared after the company’s stock surged.
At the end of last year in Forbes calculates for the entire year 2023, Arnault once again emerged as the billionaire with the most money. LMVH has been growing at an accelerated pace since 2021 when it bought an American jewelry company Tiffany & Co. It is believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever: It cost about $15.8 billion.
LMVH brings together 74 other fashion and beauty brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. Further Agache, share de Arnault, backed by a venture capital firm Aglaé Ventures, which invests in businesses like Netflix and TikTok. In 2022, the billionaire allocated an equal share to his five children.
The top 5 billionaires headed by Elon Musk and Bernard Arnault are comprised of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the space company Blue Origin; Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle; and Mark Zuckerberg, head of Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp). The list is almost all men. The woman who holds the highest position is Françoise Bettencourt: The owner of L’Oréal is on the 14th step with an estimated net worth of $97.8 billion.