Tesla’s 2023 rally returns Elon Musk to status of world’s richest man
Justin Sullivan

Elon Musk once again sits atop the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, owing to a nearly 100% rally for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) since the start of 2023. 
The South Africa-born billionaire had briefly lost the mantle of worldâs richest man to LVMH head Bernard Arnault in 2022 after a stark slide for Tesla last year. Indeed, Muskâs fortune fell by more than $100B in 2022 amid the automakerâs over 60% slide during the year. LVMH stock, by contrast, marked a far more modest decline.

However, fortunes have shifted in 2023. According to Bloomberg, Muskâs wealth has ballooned by $50.1B year to date, more than doubling the $23.2B gain for Arnault. An over 5% pop for Tesla (TSLA) on Monday finally took Musk to the top spot, leaving him with an estimated $187B fortune as of Mondayâs close against an $185B estimate for Arnault.

Beyond Tesla, Musk also counts SpaceX (SPACE), The Boring company, Neuralink, and Twitter among business ventures impacting his overall wealth.
To be sure, Bloomberg and Forbes utilize differing calculations of wealth. As such, Forbes still considers Arnault the richest man in the world with an estimated $209.6B fortune. The outlet estimates that Musk is worth about $196.2B in its real-time billionaires ranking on Tuesday.
The next closest billionaire on both lists is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Both outlets peg his total wealth at about $117B. Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett round out the top 5 on Bloombergâs list. For Forbes, Gates is swapped out at the number four spot for Oracle founder Larry Ellison, while Buffett retains the number 5 spot.
Read more on LVMHâs rumored plan to acquire Richemont.