A £158bn fortune puts Bezos ahead of Musk as world’s wealthiest man

AMAZON founder Jeff Bezos has overtaken Elon Musk to be the world’s richest man.

Mr Bezos’ fortune has hit £158billion this year, meaning he has regained his crown for the first time since 2021, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Tesla boss Mr Musk had been top dog since May. These two men, along with Louis Vuitton owner Bernard Arnault, have been in competition for the top spot in recent years.

It comes as Amazon shares have soared by more than 50 per cent since February 2023 and are now close to an all-time high.

Mr Bezos owns a 9 per cent stake in Amazon and is still its biggest shareholder, despite selling shares worth around £6.7billion in February.

Amazon has been buoyed by optimism over the potential of artificial intelligence. Mr Musk’s wealth has fallen to £156billion, following a 26 per cent slide in Tesla’s stock since the start of 2024. Mr Bezos also has business ventures outside of Amazon – including the rocket company, Blue Origin.

He and fiancee Lauren Sanchez have recently been seen aboard his £400million superyacht Koru. He was first named the world’s richest person in 2017, when he overtook Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

A huge rally in Tesla shares left Mr Bezos and Mr Musk battling for the top spot throughout 2021 before the Amazon founder fell behind.

As well as Tesla, Mr Musk also holds stakes in SpaceX, the rocket business he founded, and Twitter, which he bought for £35billion in 2022 and renamed X.

Mr Arnault, chief of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, is third richest in the world with £155billion. He is followed by Facebook boss Mark zuckerberg on £141billon and Mr Gates with £118billion.