For 18 years, from 1995 to 2017, Bill Gates was the richest person in the world, pretty much uninterrupted (technically, Carlos Slim and Warren Buffett held the #1 spot for very short terms during that period). Jeff Bezos ended Bill's reign in July 2017 and proceeded to dominate the spot until January 2021, when he was overtaken by Elon Musk. As you may know, the rise and fall and rise and fall of Elon Musk's fortune in the last decade has been nothing short of mind-boggling. Here's a quick summary of Elon Musk's net worth over the last ten years:
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 for Elon, $192 billion is not a large enough fortune to maintain his status as the world's richest human – a title he held uninterrupted for three years and two months. Sliding into the #1 spot, with a net worth of $198 billion, is Jeff Bezos. Jeff's fortunes are soaring as Amazon's stock price has doubled compared to roughly a year ago.
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.
(Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI,MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
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.
