Elon Musk loses Forbes ‘richest billionaire in the world’ title

Elon Musk has slipped down the list of the world’s billionaires to second place as Bernard Arnault takes the top spot.

 

Musk, 51, who bought Twitter for $44billion, last year earned the top spot on the Forbes World Billionaires list, which reckoned he had a net worth of $216bn.

 

However, it seems he is now in second place behind Bernard Arnault, 74, the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMZ, which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Tiffany & Co.

 

CNN reported that Arnault was able to overthrow Musk in the annual list after his net worth grew more than $50bn to $211bn, as Musk’s net worth slumped to $180bn, $39bn less than it was last year, thanks to the purchase of Twitter which was funded by Tesla shares.

 

Forbes said: “Musk has mostly tweeted himself out of the top spot on the ranks.”

 

However, Musk’s SpaceX valuation increased from $13bn to $140bn in just the past year.

 

Still, that proved to not be enough to compete with Arnault, 74, who had a “banner year” in 2022 due to record-high profits at his companies.

 

Frenchman Arnault first appeared on Forbes’ billionaires’ list in 1997, when he was worth just $3.6bn, with his wealth subsequently growing due to the 70 luxury brands he owns.