Jeff Bezos overtakes Elon Musk to become the richest person in the world

The title of the richest person on the planet has gone back and forth between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, despite the fact that in recent years other names have grabbed the throne temporarily, such as LVMH co-founder and President Bernard Arnault, or one of the founders of Microsoft, Bill Gates. The CEO of Tesla, Inc., had the world's highest net worth until, with his company's falling stock prices, the value of his assets fell below that of his counterparts.

According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, there is currently no person who has a fortune greater than that of the founder of Amazon, Inc. The net value of Bezos' assets is around $200 billion, while Musk's are are valued at about $2 billion less.

Bernard Arnault ($197 billion); Meta Platforms Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ($179 billion) and Bill Gates ($150 billion) follow.

In the last year, Bezos has seen his wealth increase considerably. As of March 2023, his assets were valued at about $176 billion. A year later, they have reached $200 billion. His company, Amazon, posted revenue last year of around $575 billion, as reported by Bloomberg.

Is the tech industry crisis affecting billionaires?

Eight of the 10 richest people on the planet are directly associated with the tech industry. Along with Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg and Gates, Steve Ballmer, Larry Ellison, Larry Page and Sergey Brin also find themselves in the top 10. The only two who are dedicated to different sectors are Arnault (luxury goods) and Warren Buffett (investments).

Each of these billionaires' fortunes, except Gates', have plummeted since the previous tally, according to Bloomberg, making clear the crisis that technology companies are currently suffering. The biggest drop was suffered by Musk (-$17.6 billion).

However, taking into account the value from a year ago, most of their fortunes grew, except Musk (-$31.3 billion), Page (-$4.09 billion) and Brin (-$3.76 billion). Bezos's assets experienced the second highest increase, trailing only Zuckerberg (+$50.7 billion).