Jeff Bezos topples Elon Musk to reclaim title of world’s richest man | Economy

Bezos has gained $23bn in 2024, while Musk has lost $31bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Jeff Bezos has dethroned Elon Musk to reclaim his title as the world’s richest man.

The Amazon founder’s net worth currently stands at $200bn, topping the Tesla chief’s $198bn, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed on Tuesday.

Bezos has gained $23bn so far in 2024, while Musk has lost about $31bn, according to the index.

The billionaires’ wealth gains and losses closely tracked the stock market fortunes of Amazon and Tesla, who count their founders as their biggest shareholders.

Amazon’s share price has surged by more than 18 percent this year, while Tesla’s has dropped by 24 percent.

Despite selling $8.5bn worth of Amazon shares earlier this month, Bezos remains the biggest shareholder in the e-commerce giant with a 9.56 percent stake.

Musk has an equity stake in Tesla of about 20 percent.

In January, a judge in the United States struck down a Tesla pay package for Musk valued at up to $55.8bn after finding that the process for approving his remuneration was deeply flawed.

Musk, who also runs X and SpaceX, rose to the top of the rich list in May after toppling Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of luxury goods company LVMH, who now ranks third with $197bn.

Bezos, Musk and Arnault have jockeyed for the top spot in recent years in the ranking, which is based on fluctuations in the stock market and other economic data.