The economy is recovering, interest rates are rising more slowly, Tesla's e-cars are finding more buyers again. For Elon Musk, this means a decent increase in his already huge fortune. His wealth now exceeds that of luxury goods tycoon Arnault.
Two and a half months ago, the Tesla boss had to give up the title - now, according to the "Billionaires Index" of the financial information service Bloomberg, Elon Musk is again the richest person in the world. His fortune is currently around 187.1 billion dollars, the equivalent of 176.5 billion euros. Frenchman Bernard Arnault temporarily deposed Musk from the throne. Arnault's wealth of currently around 185.3 billion is based primarily on his stake in the luxury giant LVMH, which includes numerous traditional brands such as Louis Vuitton.
The driver of Musk's return to number one is the development of Tesla shares, which have gained almost 70 percent this year. Since the low on January 6, the price has even risen by around 100 percent. The electric car maker not only benefited from increasing demand for its cars as a result of discounts, as Bloomberg explains. Investors are also becoming more willing to take risks in view of the economic recovery and slower interest rate increases.
At its peak in fall 2021, Musk's fortune reached a record $340 billion, according to the Bloomberg ranking. By the beginning of this year, it had fallen to around $125 billion. This makes him the first person to lose $200 billion. Arnault replaced him at the top of the rankings in mid-December. His assets had also shrunk at times during the global economic crisis, but not as much.
Last fall, Musk took over Twitter - and its chief post at the same time. Musk also had to sell Tesla shares for the roughly 44 billion acquisition. Tesla shareholders feared that the Tesla boss was too concerned with Twitter - while competition from other electric car makers increased. So far, Musk has only announced that he is relinquishing leadership of Twitter.
Musk announced a "master plan part three" for Tesla's investor day on Wednesday. According to experts, in order to keep his followers loyal, he then has to deliver more than flowery announcements on the financial markets.
