Jeff Bezos Just Ended Elon Musk S Three Year Reign As The World S Richest Person And Another Painful Wrinkle Is On The Horizon

Ten years ago today, Elon Musk was worth $11 billion. Not enough to even crack the top 100 of the world’s richest people. His net worth didn’t really budge between 2014 and mid-2017, at which point it steadily increased to around $20 billion. It stayed right around $20 billion for the next two years; then, things got a little insane. Elon started 2020 with a net worth of $33 billion. A year later, on January 1, 2021, his net worth was $200 billion. No human being in history has gained so much paper wealth so fast. And the weirdness wasn’t over. In November of 2021, Elon’s net worth briefly topped $340 billion. That was enough to topple John D. Rockefeller’s 80-year reign as the richest human in modern history, after adjusting for inflation. In hindsight, that $340 billion mark from late 2021 is looking like the peak of an Elon bubble. Elon ended 2022 with a net worth of $130 billion, a $210 billion drop in a bit over a year. No human being in history has lost so much paper wealth so fast. Elon’s fortune remained fairly stable in the $230 billion range throughout 2023. That’s where he started in 2024. Ok, now let’s talk about what has happened this year so far. In just these first two months of 2024, Elon’s fortune has dropped $32 billion. As I type this article – at 5 pm PST on Tuesday – Elon’s net worth is $192 billion. Unfortunately, $192 billion is ALSO not a large enough fortune for Elon to maintain his status as the world’s SECOND richest human. That title is now held by LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault thanks to his $195 billion net worth. This week has been particularly tough in Muskland. And it’s just been two days! On Monday, Tesla shares dropped 7% after a report showed that its sales declined in February in China, where it is facing increased competition from new EV makers like BYD. On Tuesday, Telsa’s stock price dropped another 4% mostly on the news that an arsonist had set fire to a high-voltage pylon near the company’s “Gigafactory” in the town of Grünheide, just outside of Berlin, forcing it to temporarily halt production. And there’s another painful wrinkle on the horizon. When calculating Elon’s net worth, we currently are choosing to include $55 billion worth of options that he kind of doesn’t own anymore. On January 31, a Delaware judge struck down the compensation package that resulted in Elon earning those $55 billion worth of options. In other words, when we calculate Elon Musk to be worth $192 billion today, that includes $55 billion that has been legally voided. The reason we still include those options is because Elon can (and will) appeal the ruling. And even if he loses the appeal, he will get some other amount. Likely nowhere near $55 billion, but certainly a significant amount. One could make the argument that $55 billion should be removed from Elon’s net worth right now. That would put him down at $137 billion, which would make him the seventh-richest person in the world, behind former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s $140 billion fortune.