Elon Musk has once again become the world’s richest person, surpassing Bernard Arnault, CEO of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk had held the title for quite some time before being dethroned by Arnault in December last year. The surge in Tesla’s stock price has helped Musk reclaim his spot at the top, with a net worth of approximately $187.1 billion as of Monday.
Tesla’s stock price has risen by 70 per cent this year, nearly doubling from its January low, as investors reinvest in riskier growth stocks. This rise has contributed significantly to Musk’s wealth. However, it’s worth noting that Musk’s net worth had fallen by over $200 billion between November and December last year, which was regarded as one of the largest losses of wealth in recent history.
The sharp drop in Tesla’s stock price at the time caused the sudden crash. Last year, Tesla had its worst year ever on Wall Street, losing $700 billion because of investor apprehensions regarding the effects of Covid-19 in China and Musk’s contentious takeover of Twitter.
Speaking of Twitter, Musk is making cost cuts at his newly acquired company for which he spent $44 billion. In November, he tweeted that the microblogging site was losing nearly $4 million a day. Recently, Twitter announced its eighth round of layoffs, with more than 50 people fired by Musk-led administration. This move comes after the billionaire cut more than 3,700 jobs at Twitter, which was almost half of the company’s workforce.
Despite these challenges, Musk continues to be one of the most influential people in the world, with a vision to transform humanity’s future through sustainable transportation and energy. He has also been a vocal advocate for space exploration and colonizing Mars, with his company SpaceX making significant strides in this field.
Musk’s rise to the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index once again highlights the volatile nature of the stock market and the wealth it can create and destroy. It also shows the power of innovation and entrepreneurship, as Musk’s success is primarily attributed to his ability to disrupt traditional industries and introduce new technologies that have the potential to change the world.
