With a net worth of $187.1 billion, Elon Musk regains the title of richest man in the world, after temporarily relinquishing the scepter to Lvmh CEO Bernard Arnault.
The French manager now occupies the second position on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with 185.3 billion. Followed by Jeff Bezos who completes the podium with 117 billion.
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Musk regains the scepter of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
Supporting the Tesla patron’s ascent has been a nearly 70 percent surge in the group’s shares since the beginning of the year, after the intraday low hit on Jan. 6.
Since then, signs of economic recovery and expectations for a less hawkish Federal Reserve have revived investor mood in the markets. Tesla then benefited from an increase in demand for electric cars after some list prices were cut.
On Feb. 27, the decisive sprint. The stock gained 5.46 percent to $207.63, bringing Musk’s wealth, which he owns about 13 percent of, to $187.1 billion. His holdings declined in 2022 when the CEO sold at least $22 billion in Tesla stock. And donated 11.6 million shares worth about $1.9 billion to charity.
Elon Musk, the first man to lose $200 billion
Just 50 years old, Musk was the first person in the world to see $200 billion evaporate from his personal wealth. Once again, the performance of the manager’s treasure trove was affected by the fluctuations of the stock, Tesla, which suffered a shower of selling last fall.
Now investors await Tesla’s investor day, scheduled for Wednesday, March 1, when the company’s leaders will present the third business plan update. After so many postponements, the Tesla for the masses could arrive. This is a step forward for Musk toward the ambitious goal he promised the market. Namely to sell 20 million cars a year by 2030.
The company is at the forefront of the chip and electric car price war. On Wednesday 28 it signed a $2.9 billion deal with L&F to secure cathode materials, key components of electric batteries. Thus sending the South Korean supplier’s stock rallying.
Under the contract, the materials will be distributed from January to December 2025 in the United States as well as other regions of the world.
From Twitter to AI, Musk’s expansionist sights
Since Musk got his hands on Twitter last October in a $44 billion deal, the group’s shareholders have also been closely watching social media-related news.
After nearly two months at the guide of the platform, Musk said that he will step down as CEO as soon as he finds someone “foolish enough” to take the job. According to his calculations, the replacement could take over in late 2023. Thus, when Musk will have had a year to try to stabilize the company’s finances.
But the world’s richest man’s expansionist aims are not over. He recently issued a challenge to OpenAI, announcing that he might propose his own alternative to ChatGPT artificial intelligence software.
No plans have been revealed about the new Chatbot. But, according to the news outlet The Information there is already one name in contention for the team, Igor Babuschkin, a researcher with experience at Alphabet who has worked on DeepMind AI in the past.
Babuschkin admitted, however, that he is not yet on the team. For Musk, this would be a return to the past. The tycoon helped create OpenAI back in 2015, alongside Sam Altman.
