Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has lost his position as the world's richest person just two days after reclaiming the title. According to reports from Fortune, Musk's net worth fell by nearly $2 billion after shares of Tesla fell more than 5% on Wednesday. This caused him to slip below the net worth of Bernard Arnault, CEO of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton, who reclaimed the top spot.
Musk's net worth now stands at $184 billion, down from the $187.1 billion he had earlier this week. This reversal in fortunes came after Tesla's stock climbed by 100% due to increased investor demand, customer interest in discounted Tesla models, and a better economic forecast, according to Bloomberg.
However, things looked very different for Musk just a few months ago when his net worth fell by over $200 billion between November 2021 and December 2022. This was one of the largest losses of wealth in recent history and was caused by the sudden decrease in the value of Tesla shares. The company had its worst year ever on Wall Street, losing $700 billion due to investor apprehensions about the effects of COVID-19 in China and Musk's contentious takeover of Twitter.
Despite these financial setbacks, Musk has maintained his humor about his finances. Last week, he joked on Twitter that after his continuous takeover of the microblogging website in 2022, he would have spent $44 billion to acquire "the world's largest non-profit." In November, he tweeted that Twitter was losing nearly $4 million a day, and he has presided over deep layoffs at the social media company.
Musk's loss of the world's richest person title is a reminder that even the wealthiest people can experience financial volatility. Nevertheless, Musk's accomplishments in business and space exploration continue to make him a fascinating figure in the business world.