Elon Musk reclaims the title of being the world’s richest person after Tesla Inc’s shares rise this year. As the market closed on Monday, Musk’s net worth ended at about $187.1 billion, as per Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
It might have taken a bit longer for Musk to overtake the CEO of French luxury brand LVMH, Bernard Arnault, after he revealed that he gave some 11.6 million Tesla shares to unnamed charitable causes. The stocks were worth about $2.4 billion, based on average prices on the days Musk donated these securities.
This disclosure comes as Musk narrowed the gap to Arnault to less than $10 billion amid signs of growing demands for Tesla’s electric vehicles in 2023.
The Tesla CEO and the biggest individual shareholder, previously donated shares in the company in 2021 worth about $6 billion, making it one of the largest donations in history.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Musk now has a fortune of 191.3 billion after his latest donation.
The boost in Tesla’s assets means that Musk will now have to become more active philanthropically. As per laws, private foundations in the US must spend five per cent of assets for charitable purposes each year.
Musk might currently hold the title of the richest person in the world, but also holds the title of losing the biggest fortune in history.
Last year, Musk became the richest person to lose over $200 billion in wealth after his net worth dropped from some $340 billion in Nov 2021 to $137 billion in December 2022.
(with inputs from agencies)
