Elon Musk loses the ‘Richest Man in the World’ title

In a rather shocking course of events, Elon Musk is no longer the richest man in the world.

After a substantial decline in the value of his shares in Tesla, the 51-year-old CEO of SpaceX and Twitter is no longer on top of the world in monetary terms.

For those unversed, Musk held the top spot since September 2021.

Tesla has lost nearly half its market value and Musk's net worth has dropped by about $70 billion since he bid for Twitter. Musk closed the deal for Twitter in October with $13 billion in loans, and a $33.5 billion equity commitment.

According to recent updates by Forbes and Bloomberg, Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury goods company LVMH, has surpassed Elon Musk for the top position.

Arnault, 73, was on top of Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires List with a net worth of $191.2 billion, while Musk ranked second with $185.1 billion.

Arnault's investment in Christian Dior SE — the holding company that owns 41.2% of LVMH — is where the majority of his fortune comes from. He also owns shares in Christian Dior SE and 6.2% of LVMH through Groupe Familial Arnault, his family's holding firm.

Apart from being the CEO, Musk is Tesla's top shareholder, with an estimated 14% stake. In October, he finished a $44 billion takeover of Twitter after which reports of Tesla board members being worried circulated. Musk reportedly even hired engineers from Tesla to work on Twitter, aggravating the shareholders' worry even more.

The declining demand for the company's electric cars in case of economic recession, increased financing prices discouraging consumers, recalls and government inquiries into crashes and its autopilot system pose as potential threats to Tesla.

Also, after investing in Twitter, Musk made his $44 billion offer which many people thought was excessively costly, and although Musk backed out of the agreement in July, Twitter officials filed a lawsuit to enforce the billionaire's offer. This led to the now Twitter CEO selling shares of Tesla for billions of dollars.

According to Wedbush Securities investor Dan Ives, "Musk has gone from a superhero to Tesla's stock, to a villain in the eyes of the Street, as the overhang grows with each tweet," he told the BBC.

"The Twitter circus show has damaged Musk's reputation and is a significant risk to Tesla's shares. Tesla and Musk are one and the same."