Elon Musk Loses $2.3 billion, As Bernard Arnault Becomes Richest Man

The owner of Tesla and Twitter, Elon Musk, has lost his position as the richest man in the world, as French billionaire, Bernard Arnault, takeover the top spot.

As of the period filing this report, checks by Prime Business Africa gathered that Musk lost $2.3 billion during trading on Thursday, as Tesla’s share plummeted in the capital market. 

Sell-off among shareholders rocked Tesla’s share value, pushing the stock price down by –2.24 per cent to $170.15 at the end of trading, below the $174.4 the share closed at on Wednesday. 

As a result of the dip in Tesla’s share value, the sell-off among shareholders wiped off $2.3 billion from Musk’s networth, pulling him down to second on the world’s richest list compiled by Forbes. Musk is now worth $183 billion. 

Arnault, who is currently worth $$186.2 billion, made $1.5 billion during trading on Thursday thanks to the 0.87 per cent rise in share value of his company, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). 

The share of Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton had increased to €719 from Wednesday’s €712.80, indicating the investors in the capital market showed more interest in LVMH than they did in Tesla. 

Musk first made the Forbes Billionaires List in 2012 with $2 billion, before he became the richest person in the world with $185 billion in January 2021. 

He draws his wealth from Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, The Boring Company, and in October, Musk added Twitter to his long investment portfolio.

Meanwhile, Musk is planning on expanding his internet business, Starlink, to Nigeria. His team has met with representatives of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and have obtained license to set up.

Although Musk disclosed on his Twitter that Starlink will begin operation in Nigeria in the second half of this year, there have been no update as to the commence with only 23 days left before the year ends.