Bezos surpasses Musk, retakes world’s richest person crown

WITH a US$200 billion fortune, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has surpassed Elon Musk to once again become the world's richest person.

According to data from Bloomberg, Bezos' fortune eclipsed Musk's fortune by US$2 billion as of Monday. This represents the first time since the fall of 2021 that Bezos is the world's richest person.

About 84 percent of Bezos' wealth is in his ownership stake in Amazon, which was worth US$167 billion on Monday. Bezos has gained US$23 billion in wealth so far this year as Amazon stock has jumped about 15 percent.

The rest of Bezos' wealth is derived from his stake in Blue Origin, which is worth about US$15 billion, and another S$18 billion sitting in cash, according to Bloomberg. Bezos sold US$8,5 billion worth of Amazon stock last month.

Bezos' wealth gains have coincided with losses for Musk, which has been driven by a 28 percent decline in Tesla's stock price.

Musk has lost US$31 billion in wealth so far this year to a total net worth of US$198 billion as of Monday. Musk's wealth declined by US$17 billion on Monday alone when Tesla's stock price fell about 7 percent.

Musk's wealth decline is set to continue on Tuesday, with Tesla stock declining by about 4 percent due to concerns surrounding the EV maker's exposure to China's weakening economy.

Musk's wealth is derived from his US$77 billion stake in Tesla, as well as his US$71 billion stake in SpaceX. Other ventures including X, Neuralink, and The Boring Company round out Musk's total wealth exposure.

After Bezos and Musk, the next richest person in the world is Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury goods company LVMH, who has a net worth of US$197 billion as of Monday.

The top five richest person ranking is rounded out by Mark Zuckerberg, who has a US$179 billion net worth, and Bill Gates, who has a US$150 billion net worth. – Bloomberg