After a substantial decline in the value of his shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla this year, Elon Musk is no longer the richest man in the world.
According to Forbes and Bloomberg, Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury goods company LVMH, has surpassed Elon Musk for the top slot.
Arnault’s substantial investment in Christian Dior SE, the holding company that owns 41.2% of LVMH, is where the majority of his fortune originates from. He owns shares in Christian Dior SE and 6.2% of LVMH through Groupe Familial Arnault, his family’s holding firm.
Musk is Tesla’s CEO and the company’s top shareholder, with an estimated 14% stake. In October, he finished a $44 billion takeover of the social media site Twitter after which reports of Tesla board members being worried spread. Musk reportedly even hired engineers from Tesla to work on Twitter, worrying shareholders even more.
Forbes estimates that Musk is currently worth around $178 billion (£152 billion). Bernard Arnault, on the other hand, is worth $188 billion. After months of legal fighting, Musk’s Twitter purchase was finally finalised. Some have attributed Tesla’s share price decline to the distraction brought by the microblogging platform.
After investing in Twitter at the beginning of the year, Musk made his $44 billion offer in April, which many people thought was excessively costly. He backed out of the agreement in July, citing worries about the volume of fake and bot accounts on the network. In the end, Twitter officials filed a lawsuit to enforce the billionaire’s offer. According to Wedbush Securities investor Dan Ives, the “circus” surrounding the Twitter transaction has lowered the value of Tesla’s stock. “Musk has gone from a superhero to Tesla’s stock, to a villain in the eyes of the Street, as the overhang grows with each tweet,” he told the BBC. “The Twitter circus show has damaged Musk’s reputation and is a significant risk to Tesla’s shares. Tesla and Musk are one and the same.” In order to finance his purchase, the Twitter boss sold shares of Tesla for billions of dollars, which aided in the share price decline. The demand for the company’s electric cars could slow down if the economy weakens, increased financing prices discourage consumers, and other companies raise their electric vehicle offers. This is yet another thing that worries investors.
Recalls and government inquiries into crashes and its autopilot system have hurt Tesla too.
The list of the top-10 richest people in the world include Bernard Arnault on the top, followed by Elon Musk, Gautam Adani, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison, Mukesh Ambani, Steve Ballmer, and Larry Page.