The last time he held this honor was more than three months ago.
On Feb. 27 Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk was again the richest man in the world, ousting the French executive Bernard Arnault from the podium.
Arnault, CEO Te and major shareholder of the French luxury-goods giant LVMH (LVMUY) -- parent of prestigious brands like Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany, and Veuve Clicquot Champagne -- in December had outclassed Musk and Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and executive chairman, to settle in a throne that had become the province of tech billionaires.
Arnault took advantage of the worldwide economic reopening, particularly the one in in China. After two years of covid-19 restrictions, wealthy customers were eager to spend. Conversely, fears about the world economy's health weighed on the technology groups considered a key growth sector. Tech tends to do well when the economy is doing well, and tend to suffer when growth is sluggish.
Last year, Tesla (TSLA), the maker of the Model S luxury electric sedan, saw its stock fall nearly two-thirds (65%).
Musk Again Is the World's Richest Man
The French tycoon briefly ceded this crown to Musk in February and immediately took it back -- until 24 hours ago. For a few days Arnault's reign had been in danger due to the stock-market slump in the luxury sector.
Recent analyst notes have warned investors about the shares of luxury companies. The latest note, from Deutsche Bank analysts, says investors must be "more selective" on luxury stocks amid signs that growth in the U.S. is slowing, though the market in Europe continues to show some resilience and remains dynamic in China.
Investors have thus sold off shares in luxury companies, sending stock prices sharply lower. Arnault's stake in the LVMH luxury empire constituted a large part of his fortune, and his net worth is linked to the performance of the stock.
The price slump at LVMH benefits Musk, who takes over the crown of the richest man in the world. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Tesla CEO's net worth was estimated at $192 billion as of May 31.
Since the start of the year, this fortune has risen by $55.3 billion, benefiting from a two-thirds (66%) rebound in Tesla shares. The entrepreneur's net wealth is tied to Tesla stock, of which he is one of the largest individual shareholders.
Musk currently owns 14.11% of Tesla's shares outstanding, according to FactSet. The tech billionaire also has a more than 40% stake in space-technology provider SpaceX. SpaceX.
Arnault is second with a net worth valued at $187 billion. He and Musk are close in assets, and their fortunes are likely to go back and forth from the top.
The Rest of the Top 10 World's Richest
Bezos is the third richest man in the world, with an estimated $144 billion, followed by Bill Gates, co-founder of software giant Microsoft, whose fortune is valued at $125 billion.
The rest of the top 10 is dominated by tech. Most interesting is the return of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of social-media empire Meta Platforms. Zuckerberg, like Musk, is benefiting from the strong rebound in the stock price of the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta stock has doubled (up 120%) this year, pushing Zuckerberg's net worth to $96.5 billion. That fortune is up $50.9 billion this year, the biggest jump after Musk. He's ranked 10th.
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle ORCL is the world's fifth richest man, with a fortune of $118 billion, up by $26.5 billion.
He is followed by Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, with a net worth of $114 billion, up $28.3 billion this year.
Legendary investor Warren Buffett is seventh with a net worth valued at $112 billion, up by $4.72 billion this year.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the two co-founders of Google are 8th and 9th with respective fortunes of $111 billion (up by $28.4 billion this year) and $106 billion (+$26.3 billion this year).
