Elon Musk briefly loses top spot on Forbes billionaire rich list

Later in the day, the Tesla owner was back on top at $184.9 billion, followed by Bernard Arnault and family at $184.7 billion

With US tech stocks sliding as interest rates and recession fears rise, the fortune of Elon Musk, left, briefly fell below that of Bernard Arnault and family. AFP

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, briefly lost his top spot on Forbes' billionaire list on Wednesday to Bernard Arnault, whose family own the world's leading luxury group, LVMH.

With US tech stocks sliding as interest rates and recession fears rise, the fortune of Tesla owner Mr Musk briefly fell below that of the Arnault family.

But later in the day, Mr Musk was back on top at $184.9 billion, followed by Mr Arnault and his family at $184.7 billion.

Indian businessman Gautam Adani was in third place at $134.8 billion, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos fourth at $111.3 billion.

Mr Arnault had also topped the Forbes list for several hours in 2021.

His LVMH group, with includes dozens of brands including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Kenzo, has continued to post strong revenue and profit growth despite the latest global economic headwinds.

Mr Musk's fortune is primarily tied to the share price of Tesla and the entrepreneur has been at the centre of controversy after having taken over Twitter in late October.

He also owns space exploration company SpaceX.

The other major wealth ranking compiled by financial data provider Bloomberg also has Mr Musk and Mr Arnault running nearly neck and neck.

Bloomberg's ranking, calculated after US markets closed on Tuesday, had Mr Musk in the lead at $178.9 billion, followed by Mr Arnault at $165.1 billion.

Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

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  Elon Musk arrives at the Baron Investment Conference at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, on November 4. AP

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  Mr Musk in Manhattan, New York City, on November 4. Reuters

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  Mr Musk appears online at the B20 Summit as part of the G20 dialogue in Nusa Dua, Bali, on November 14. AFP

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  After months of negotiations, Mr Musk finally bought Twitter on October 27. AFP

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  The billionaire took control of microblogging platform and fired its top executives, including chief executive Parag Agrawal, left, as well as the company's chief financial officer and its head of legal policy, trust and safety. AFP

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  Mr Musk entering Twitter headquarters carrying a sink through the lobby area on October 26. AP

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  Mr Musk and his children Damian, Kai, Saxon and Griffin met Pope Francis in July at the Vatican. AFP

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  Mr Musk speaks by video in June to the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha. Bloomberg

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  Mr Musk answers questions at the Qatar Economic Forum. Bloomberg

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  Mr Musk arrives at the Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in May. Reuters

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  Mr Musk and his mother Maye Musk arrive at the Met Gala in May. AFP

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  Mother and son pose and laugh on the Met Gala red carpet. EPA

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  Mr Musk waves at the Met Gala. Reuters

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  Mr Musk joins in online at the 'Financial Times' Future of the Car Summit in May. Financial Times

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  Mr Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, in March. Reuters

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  Mr Musk at the Tesla factory in Berlin, Germany, in March. AP

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  Mr Musk speaks at SpaceX's Starbase centre in South Texas in February. AFP

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  The entrepreneur shakes hands with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in Porto Feliz, Brazil, in May. AP

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  Mr Bolsonaro and Mr Musk greet each other in Sao Paulo. Reuters

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  Indonesian President Joko Widodo meets Mr Musk at the SpaceX launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, in May. Reuters

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  Mr Musk shows Mr Widodo his mobile phone during a tour of the SpaceX launch site in Texas. Reuters