Elon Musk Loses Title Of World’s Richest Person As Tesla Stock Plummets
In the blog section of the website, there is an article featuring Elon Musk, the creator and lead engineer of SpaceX. The article highlights his presence at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition held in Washington, DC, where he shared insights on various SpaceX endeavors in response to a diverse array of questions. The photograph accompanying the article captures Musk during his appearance at the conference.
Editor’s note: As of 1:15 pm Friday, Elon Musk has once again claimed the top position on Forbes’ live billionaire ranking. We will keep a close eye on their fortunes as the trading day progresses.
In less than a month since reclaiming his title as the wealthiest individual on Earth, Elon Musk has once more slipped to the second spot due to a significant decline in Tesla's stock value.
The stocks of the company producing electric cars, which experienced a significant rise in value earlier in the year, resulting in Elon Musk reclaiming the highest position on Forbes' list of the wealthiest individuals in June, have declined by over 7% this week. This decline has caused a notable reduction of $21.2 billion in Musk's wealth. Currently, his total assets amount to $236.5 billion as of Friday at noon, which is $1.6 billion less than the new reigning top billionaire, Bernard Arnault, a prominent figure in the luxury goods industry from France.
Musk had a good week initially, as Tesla stocks reached their highest point in 2023 on Tuesday. However, things took a turn when the company released their earnings report for the second quarter after the market closed on Wednesday. Even though the earnings were better than anticipated, investors responded negatively to the report. Concerns about the company's overvaluation have been gaining more attention, leading to a significant drop of almost 10% in shares on Thursday. Since then, shares have continued to fall, currently down by an additional 0.5% as of noon on Friday.
Musk, who holds approximately 23% of Tesla shares and options, experienced a personal setback due to the drop. At the same time, Arnault, with whom Musk has been competing for the highest position among billionaires, had a relatively better week. The value of Arnault's LVMH, which includes prestigious brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany, and many others, declined by around 3% throughout the week until Friday. This decline was relatively insignificant for Arnault, who possesses about 48% ownership of the business, resulting in a smaller decrease compared to Musk.
The billionaire from France currently holds the top spot after not being in the lead since the end of June, when Musk surpassed him due to the surge in Tesla shares. These two individuals are closely competing with each other, leaving all other contenders far behind. The third wealthiest person on the planet is Jeff Bezos from Amazon, with an approximate net worth of $152.9 billion, which is a substantial $80 billion less than the combined wealth of Musk and Arnault.
