Elon Musk becomes world's richest person again

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk reclaimed his title as the world's richest person as shares of the electric carmaker surged over 90% in 2023.

Net worth of the Tesla CEO soared $50 billion this year to $187 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Bernard Arnault, who slipped to the second position in the world rich list, has a net worth of $185 billion. The chairman and chief executive of luxury goods maker LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton overtook Musk to become the world's richest person in December last year. The 73-year-old French business magnate owns 48% in fashion giant LVMH. His company owns luxury brands like Christian Dior, Fendi, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co. and champagne maker Moet & Chandon.

Musk, who bought microblogging platform Twitter for $44 billion, saw his fortune dip by $200 billion in January after shares of Tesla tumbled in December and early January.

On Monday, Tesla's shares closed 5.46% higher at $207.63.

The world's richest man sold over $15 billion in Tesla shares — about $8.5 billion in April, then another $6.9 billion in August — to raise funds for the Twitter acquisition. While acknowledging that he and other investors overpaid for Twitter, Musk believes that the long-term potential for Twitter is, in order of magnitude, greater than its current value.

In a conference call following Tesla's quarterly results in October last year, Musk had said that he sees a potential path for Tesla to be worth more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined. The richest person on the planet also owns a $47 billion worth stake in space exploration company SpaceX.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the third richest person with a net worth of $117 billion, followed by Bill Gates whose net worth stands at $114 billion.

Mukesh Ambani is the only Indian among top 10 richest persons across the world. The Reliance Industries chairman's net worth has fallen by $6 billion this year to $81 billion.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, who overtook Bezos to become the second richest man in 2022, has slipped to 32^nd spot. Adani's net worth has crashed by $82 billion this year to $37.7 billion after U.S. short seller Hindenburg Research's January 24 report triggered a selloff in the conglomerate’s stocks. However, shares of Adani Group companies staged a strong comeback on Tuesday. Adani Enterprises, the group's flagship firm, jumped 16% to ₹1,385 apiece on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Shares of Adani Wilmar, Adani Power and Adani Green were locked in the 5% upper circuit.