While Elon Musk’s downfall as the world’s richest person by net worth was due to a steep drop in Tesla stock (NASDAQ:TSLA), the electric vehicle maker’s shares are also the reason the CEO is now seeking to reclaim the title. have been ready to do.
Tesla shares are up 74% this year, especially after the company cut prices for its entire electric vehicle lineup. Tesla shares ended Wednesday up 2.38%, taking the company’s market cap to $677.87 billion.
With this, Elon Musk’s net worth reached $191 billion, only $1 billion less than Bernard Arnault’s net worth of $192 billion.
Credit: Bloomberg Billionaires Index
Arnault is the chief executive officer of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, one of the world’s largest producers of luxury products. Arnault had overtaken Musk in December amid a drop in TSLA’s stock.
The reduction in Musk’s net worth in 2022 was so significant that Guinness World Records dubbed him as the person with the biggest wealth loss in history.
Since TSLA stock’s rebound this year, however, Musk has steadily gained ground on Arnault, and is now within striking distance of the luxury goods executive. However, it should be noted that this year Musk’s net worth has increased by $54.2 billion.
But it is still well below its all-time high. As the richest person at the end of 2021, Musk’s net worth was listed at over $300 billion.
The past year has been particularly painful for Musk and Tesla. In addition to headwinds in China, in which Gigafactory Shanghai – the company’s largest plant by production – was closed amid COVID-related lockdowns, TSLA shares were also affected by Musk’s acquisition of social media platform Twitter.
As Elon Musk offloaded TSLA stock to fund his Twitter purchase, shares of the electric vehicle maker took a notable dive. This year is likely to be quite different for Tesla, however.
The electric vehicle maker is expected to begin initial deliveries of its all-electric pickup truck, the Cybertruck, this year. Tesla is also expected to launch a new version of the Model 3 sedan later this year, with improvements to its exterior and key features such as the infotainment system. Production of the updated Model 3 is also expected to be easier, which should help Tesla’s costs.