Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, regained the title of richest person in the world, surpassing Elon Musk and positioning itself at the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index for the first time since 2021. His net worth, according to Bloomberg, is 200 billion dollars. Musk follows him closely with 198 billion dollars, while the owner of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, stands at $197 billion. The three tycoons have alternated in recent years at the top of the ranking, which takes into account fluctuations in the markets and the economy.
Return to the top for Bezos
Jeff Bezos, 60, has regained the first position that he has not occupied since 2021. This return is partly attributable to the decision to sell 50 million shares of Amazon over the course of the year, whose current value is $8,6 billion at the current price of $172,13 per share. In February in just four days he sold around 24 million Amazon shares, totaling $4 billion. Bezos hasn't sold shares since 2021.
Musk loses momentum, more trouble is on the way
Elon Musk lost the title of richest person in the world, after the Tesla shares they fell 7,2% due to delivery problems from Shanghai. Since the beginning of the year, the red is equal to 23%. In recent years, the wealth gap between Musk and Bezos has narrowed considerably because while Amazon's shares have risen, Tesla's shares have actually fallen. The Amazon shares are close to their record level, while Tesla is down 50% compared to its 2021 high.
But for Musk the decline may not end there. His estate may be further affected as a Delaware judge overturned his 55 billion salary package of dollars approved by the Tesla board of directors, the largest in the history of American companies, in response to an investor's objections. And that's not all. Other troubles also come from X (formerly Twitter). Four former Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal, filed a lawsuit lawsuit against Musk for over $128 million of unpaid severance pay. Musk, upon his arrival, had fired Agrawal along with other key executives.
Arnault keeps pace
It keeps pace with the two tech moguls Bernard Arnault, president of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the largest luxury goods manufacturer in the world. Arnault is firmly in third place in the Bloomberg rankings (the only non-American in the top 10) with assets of 197 billion dollars. lvmhIn fact, despite a luxury sector that has suffered from crises around the world, also due to the decline in the Chinese market, it has not lost ground. The French giant has closed 2023 with revenues growing by 13% to 86,2 billion and net profit improving by 8% to 15,2 billion euros.
