Jeff Bezos topples Elon Musk as world’s richest man

Jeff Bezos has usurped Elon Musk as the world’s richest man with a net worth of $200bn (£158bn) after a surge in the share price of Amazon.

The Amazon founder, 60, overtook his rival for the first time in three years, with Mr Musk now sitting on a fortune worth $198bn, according to Bloomberg data.

The pair’s fortunes are largely tied to their respective holdings in online retail giant Amazon and electric car maker Tesla.

Amazon’s shares have climbed 18pc so far this year, valuing the business at more than $1.8 trillion as technology stocks rocket on the back of a wave of optimism about artificial intelligence.

At the same time, Tesla’s share price has slipped by 24pc in 2024 as investors grow wary of the level of demand for electric cars. Its stock fell by 7pc on Monday after it announced further price cuts in China in an effort to stimulate demand.

The electric car company is now worth around $590bn, having at one stage been valued at over $1 trillion.

Mr Musk, 52, owns around 20pc of the company’s stock and options, as well as large holdings in rocket business SpaceX and social network X, formerly Twitter.

The Tesla’s chief executive’s net worth risks falling even further after a judge ruled his current $56bn dollar pay deal is unlawful.

Mr Musk, who receives no salary at Tesla, had been due to receive the huge stock payout for helping to massively increase the company’s valuation and revenues.

The Tesla boss has long traded barbs with Mr Bezos about his wealth, tweeting a “silver medal” emoji at his rival when he surpassed his net worth in 2021.

The two run competing rocket companies – SpaceX and Blue Origin – vying for work to return astronauts to the Moon with Nasa.

Mr Musk’s personal fortune peaked at more than $340bn when Tesla’s stock hit $1 trillion in November 2021.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Mr Bezos and Mr Musk are followed in wealth by French tycoon Bernard Arnault, who is worth $197bn, and Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder, with a net worth of $179bn.

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