Jeff Bezos narrowly trails Elon Musk as the richest person in the United States

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos overtook Elon Musk as America’s richest person on Wednesday, though Musk regained the title just minutes later, according to Forbes calculations, as Tesla stock market. Musk’s net worth has declined dramatically in the meantime. Ouch.

important facts

Bezos’s $195 billion net worth surpassed Musk’s $193 billion fortune shortly after the stock market opened Wednesday morning, though Musk resumed the role of richest American shortly after, when Tesla shares hit their Daily losses reduced from 4% to 2%.

On Wednesday, it was the first time since August 19, 2021 that Musk dropped out of the top two in Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings.

Musk started the year as No. 1 on Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, but lost the top spot to Frenchman Bernard Arnault in late January before a Delaware judge voided his $51,000 Tesla compensation package. Millions of dollars.

Musk also lost the number one spot at the end of 2022, around the same time Tesla shares dropped following news of production challenges and investor concerns surrounding Musk’s $44,000 acquisition of Twitter. million dollars, although the technology billionaire regained the title of the richest person in the world on June 8. , 2023.

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Jeff Bezos narrowly trails Elon Musk as the richest person in the United States

Musk entered the top three for the first time in 2021, when he had an estimated net worth of $151 billion and was ranked No. 2 behind Bezos on the year’s billionaire list.

tangent line

Musk told Forbes in 2021 that he planned to send Bezos a silver medal when he overtook the Amazon founder as the world’s richest man, writing: “I’ll send Jeffrey B. the number ‘2’.” I am sending a huge statue of, along with a silver medal.”

big number

55 billion dollars. Musk’s fortunes on Wednesday were as low as they are at the end of 2023. The nearly 30% year-to-date decline in Tesla’s share price significantly reduced the value of Musk’s roughly 21% shareholding in the electric vehicle maker.

main background

Bezos and Musk have a combined net worth of approximately $390 billion, which is equivalent to the gross domestic product of Hong Kong in 2023. About two-thirds of Musk’s wealth is tied to his stake in Tesla, while about 85% of Bezos’s net worth comes from his nearly 10. % stake in Amazon, according to Forbes estimates in September. Amazon shares are up 17% this year and 86% over the past 12 months, outperforming Tesla’s -28% and -8% year-to-date and 12-month returns, as investors Frustrated with Tesla’s declining profit margins.

shocking fact

The two billionaires are not only competing for the crown of the richest man in the United States, but also in the field of private space travel, while Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX are competing for the NASA contract .

This article was originally published by Forbes US.

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