San Francisco: Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of global luxury goods company LVMH, has returned as world’s richest man as Elon Musk lost more than $18 billion in his net worth after Tesla stock nosedived last week, wiping over $73 billion off the company’s market value.
According to Forbes’ real-time billionaire list, Arnault and his family’s net worth grew to $207.8 billion after a $23.6 billion increase, passing Musk’s $204.5 billion.
LVMH’s stock had increased by more than 13 percent since Friday’s closing. LVMH’s market capitalization was $388.8 billion, whereas Tesla’s was $586.14 billion.
In December 2022, Bernard Arnault, at 74 years old, overtook Musk.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX reclaimed the title of richest man in the world in December of last year, unseating French luxury mogul Arnault in the process.
In June of last year, Musk and Arnault had lunch in Paris. At the time, their combined net worth was estimated to be $426 billion. They first connected at Arnault’s LVMH-owned Cheval Blanc, a posh hotel brand.
The business’s market worth was wiped out last Friday when Tesla’s shares fell more than 11%, only hours after the company issued a warning about the slowing pace of electric car sales and the existential danger posed by Chinese competitors.
The most valuable car in the world stated at an earnings presentation that sales growth this year “may be notably lower” than last as it continues to work on the “next-generation” car, which is probably going to be a less expensive model.
While it reported a sizable 38 per cent increase in deliveries last year compared with 2022, Tesla had previously targeted a 50 per cent annual growth rate averaged over several years, CNN reported.
