Musk returns as world's richest man; net worth of richest persons up $1.5 trillion

New Delhi, Dec 29

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has returned as the world's richest man, recapturing the title from French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault.

Musk earned an additional $95.4 billion through Thursday's close, boosted by the success of Tesla and SpaceX, after losing $138 billion in 2022, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

His net worth now exceeds Arnault's by more than $50 billion after LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE shares fell due to a global slowdown in demand for luxury products.

As per the Index, Musk's net worth is now estimated to be $232 billion.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos added more than $70 billion to his wallet this year and is now neck-and-neck with Arnault for second place, while Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's fortune increased by more than $80 billion.

Arnault is the second richest in the world with net worth of $179 billion, followed by Bezos ($178 billion), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($141 billion), ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ($131 billion), and Zuckerberg ($130 billion). According to the Index, the collective net worth of the 500 richest persons increased by $1.5 trillion in 2023, entirely recovering from the $1.4 trillion lost the previous year.

The wealth of tech billionaires increased by 48 per cent, or $658 billion, because to the enormous buzz around artificial intelligence.

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