Bernard Arnault surpasses Elon Musk as world's richest man

Bernard Arnault has overtaken Elon Musk as the richest person in the world, who was once estimated to be worth $340 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk, 51, has seen his wealth fall by more than $100 billion since January, to $168.5 billion. That's less than the $172.9 billion net worth of 73-year-old Arnault, whose wealth is primarily derived from his 48% ownership of fashion juggernaut LVMH as of 10:20 a.m. in New York.

For the first time since he was No. 2 in September 2021, Musk's loss of the top spot in the rankings marks the end of a turbulent year for the frenetic billionaire. In a blatant demonstration of how the richest people could use their enormous fortunes, he startled the world in April with his bid to take Twitter private for $44 billion.

However, his agreement came at a time when the Federal Reserve and other central banks were starting the most ferocious cycle of monetary tightening in a generation, which caused the valuations of high-flying firms like Musk's Tesla Inc. to plummet. The stock price of the electric vehicle manufacturer has decreased by more than 50% this year, NDTV reported.

Musk tried to back out of the Twitter agreement for months, but was unsuccessful. In order to generate the necessary funds for the purchase, he sold more than $15 billion in Tesla shares - roughly $8.5 billion in April and another $6.9 billion in August.

The Bloomberg wealth index deducted $10 billion from his wealth once the Twitter acquisition was completed in October, reflecting the fact that shares of competing companies have fallen sharply since he made his bid.

Musk has promised to revamp the social media site, but he is up against several obstacles, some of which he himself created. At a time when other businesses were already removing their advertisements from the website, he criticised Apple Inc. and threatened to bar Twitter from the App Store.

Twitter will likely have yearly interest expenses that are greater than a portion of its revenue for the entire year of 2021. According to Bloomberg News, Musk's creditors are thinking about replacing some of the high-interest debt he piled on Twitter with new margin loans secured by Tesla stock.

In contrast to Musk, Arnault, the new richest man in the world, is drama-free.

Arnault has consistently ranked among the wealthiest people for a long time, but his wealth never increased as quickly as that of US tech billionaires. His empire is now holding up, in contrast to Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin of Alphabet Inc., whose wealth is being severely impacted by rising interest rates.

The designer clothing, fine wines, and retail businesses of Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton have profited from the pent-up demand that was released when Covid-related travel and shopping restrictions were abolished in the majority of countries. The wealthy patrons of Christian Dior, Fendi, Bulgari, Tiffany & Co., and Moet & Chandon are served by Arnault's businesses.