Elon Musk overtaken as world's richest person by LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault

Elon Musk has lost his crown of the world’s richest person to LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault. According to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, the net worth of Arnault is $181.8 billion, while Elon’s net worth has slumped to $163.7 billion . The net worth of Tesla and Twitter CEO saw a downfall of $4.5 billion. On the other hand, the net worth of the French billionaire rose by $849 million, making him the world's richest person. 

Musk had usurped the title of the world's richest person from the CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos back in 2021. The majority of Musk's fortune is based on his 25% ownership of Tesla . A drop in the value of the automotive company’s stocks was the primary reason behind the setback in the net worth of the 51-year-old billionaire. According to Sky News, the stocks of Tesla reduced by more than half of their value this year. Musk sold off about $4 billion of his Tesla shares in his attempt to acquire Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion. 

Arnault removed the age limit for being CEO earlier this year, this will allow him to stay as the CEO of the group till he is 80 . Unlike Musk, who often finds himself in the centre of controversies and loves public appearances, Arnault likes to stay under the public eye and likes to stay under the radar. The wealth index of Bloomberg estimates that the majority of Arnault’s fortune comes from his stake in Christian Dior. 

Investors of Tesla have also become cautious because of the billionaire’s increased focus on Twitter. Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush agreed that in such a crucial time for Tesla where it is noticing a decline in the value of its shares, Musk is focused on reorganising Twitter. Elon is extremely active on social media and his tweets create a lot of noise, which creates a negative backlash on newly-acquired Twitter and invariably on Tesla. 

Amid all the chaos of taking over Twitter, Musk has also taken the role of micromanaging Twitter. He has tweeted hysterically during the entire process, thus providing fodder to the concerns of Tesla investors that think the acquisition of Twitter is a distraction for Musk.  

Who is Bernard Arnault?

Bernard Arnault is the CEO and Chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, one of the most valuable and well-known luxury product groups in the world . Some 70 companies are owned by LVMH, including Fendi and Marc Jacobs, Dom Perignon, Fenty Beauty, Tiffany & Co., Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton.   

Arnault started his professional career as an engineer in the construction company Ferret- Savinel. Soon he was promoted to numerous executive positions before he finally became the CEO of the company in 1978. Later in 1984, he took over Financière Agacheto reorganise it and make it profitable again. During this process, Arnault also worked with Christian Dior. The French billionaire became the majority stakeholder of LVMH in 1989 and since then, he has served as the CEO of the group.