Elon Musk reclaims title as world's richest person

Bloomberg Billionaires Index places Tesla co-founder at top of rich list after gains in the electric car maker's stock price

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  Jared Kushner and Elon Musk watch the Fifa World Cup final match between Argentina and France. Getty Images

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  Mr Musk attends model and businesswoman Heidi Klum's 2022 Halloween party at Moxy Lower East Side, in New York City Getty

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  Mr Musk on stage next to Optimus the humanoid robot in Palo Alto, California, in September 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing 'Cyber Rodeo' grand opening party, in Austin, Texas, in 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk shakes hands with Brazil's then president Jair Bolsonaro, at the event Conecta Amazonia in Porto Feliz, Sao Paulo state, in 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk and his mother, Maye Musk, arrive for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in 2022 AFP

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  Mr Musk attends the start of the production at Tesla's Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2022 AFP

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  Mikey Day as a lawyer, Cecily Strong as a judge, and host Mr Musk as Wario during the 'Wario' sketch on NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', in 2021 Getty

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  Mr Musk and son X Æ A-12 onstage at 'Time' Person of the Year in New York, in 2021 AFP

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  Mr Musk dancing onstage during a delivery event for Tesla's China-made Model 3 cars in Shanghai, in 2021 Reuters

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  Mr Musk with Armin Laschet, at the time CDU party federal chairman and prime minister of Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, at the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, in 2021 Getty

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  Mr Musk at the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, in 2020 EPA

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  Mr Musk leaves a New York court in 2019, after a hearing in a lawsuit brought against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission Getty

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  A prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft in Boca Chica, Texas, in 2019 Reuters

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  Mr Musk and then partner Grimes at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in 2018 AFP

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  From left, Mr Musk, Corning chief executive Wendell Weeks, then US president Donald Trump and Johnson & Johnson chief executive Alex Gorsky at the White House, in 2017 AFP

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  Mr Musk presents his plan to colonise Mars at the International Astronautics Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2016 EPA

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  Mr Musk with then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe after a test drive of the Tesla Model S P85D in Palo Alto, California, in 2015 Reuters

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  Mr Musk with then wife Talulah Riley at the 2011 British Academy Film Awards in London Getty

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  Mr Musk after Tesla's initial public offering at the Nasdaq market in New York, in 2010 Reuters

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  Then US president Barack Obama with Mr Musk on a tour of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2010 Reuters

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  Mr Musk in the Tesla Roadster electric car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, in 2009 Reuters

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  Mr Musk with music producer Quincy Jones at the Tesla Roadster launch party in 2008 AFP

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  Mr Musk answers questions about the new Tesla Model S all-electric car, at its unveiling in Hawthorne, California, in 2009 AFP

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  Elon Musk in Los Angeles in 2008. Getty

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  Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk in 2004 Getty

Elon Musk has reclaimed his place as the world's richest person after a rollercoaster 2022 that resulted in his wealth plummeting amid a sell-off of technology stocks and numerous controversies related to his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

Mr Musk, co-founder of Tesla and also the owner of SpaceX, was worth $187 billion when markets closed on Monday, nudging aside Bernard Arnault, chairman of French luxury group LVMH, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The centibillionaire, 51, has added $50.1 billion, or 36.6 per cent, to his personal fortune since the beginning of the year.

Watch: Who is billionaire Elon Musk?

Mr Arnault now has a net worth of $185 billion. So far this year, he has added $23.3 billion to his fortune.

The majority of Mr Musk’s fortune is tied to Tesla stock, which has jumped 92.07 per cent this year to trade at $207.63 on Monday.

However, the stock is still down by nearly half its value compared with January 2022, when it was trading at $399.93.

In January, Mr Musk broke the world record for the biggest wealth loss in history after shedding $182 billion from his net worth since November 2021, according to a report by Guinness World Records.

In 2022 alone, the father of 10 shed a whopping $138 billion from his net worth — almost equivalent to the gross domestic product of Hungary — resulting in Mr Musk losing his world’s richest crown for the first time in 14 months on December 12.

Mr Musk started 2023 with a net worth of $138 billion, a sharp drop from the peak of his wealth of $320 billion in 2021, Forbes magazine data shows.

He made his first millions in the 1990s, when he sold his first company, Zip2, for more than $300m. He then launched X.com, an online payment system that eventually became PayPal, which he sold to eBay for $1.5bn in 2002.

Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos remains in third place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with a net worth of $117 billion.

The world's richest people — in pictures

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  Bernard Arnault, 73, is chairman and chief executive of LVMH, which owns 70 fashion and beauty brands including Louis Vuitton. He’s worth $186.2bn. AFP

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  Elon Musk, 51, chairman of Tesla, SpaceX and now the owner of Twitter. He's worth $181.3bn. Reuters

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  Gautam Adani, 60, is chairman of India’s Adani Group, which controls ports, airports, electricity generation and property, among other ventures. He’s worth $134bn. Reuters

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  Jeff Bezos, 58, is the founder of Amazon shopping website and is worth $113.8bn. AFP

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  Warren Buffett, 92, is a titan of the financial world, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway and worth $108.1bn. AP

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  Bill Gates, 67, founded Microsoft and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He’s now worth $106.4bn. Ruel Pableo for The National

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  Larry Ellison, 78, is founder and chief technology officer of software company Oracle. He’s worth $103.9bn. AFP

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  Mukesh Ambani, 65, is chairman of India’s Reliance Industries and is worth $92.8bn. Bloomberg

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  Carlos Slim, 82, is Mexico’s richest man and his family owns America Movil, the largest telecoms company in Latin America. He is worth $81.8bn. AP

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  Steve Ballmer, 66, former chief executive of Microsoft and owner of the NBA Los Angeles Clippers, is worth $81.7bn. AP

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the world's fourth-richest person with a personal fortune of $114 billion and Warren Buffett remains in fifth place with a net worth of $106 billion.

Until January, embattled Indian tycoon Gautam Adani held the third-place spot.

However, he has fallen to 32nd place as the market value of the Adani group of companies continues to plummet following a scathing report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research.

Mr Adani now has a net worth of $37.7 billion.

Top 5 richest people in the world

1. Elon Musk — $187 billion
2. Bernard Arnault — $185 billion
3. Jeff Bezos — $117 billion
4. Bill Gates — $114 billion
5. Warren Buffett — $106 billion