Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest man.
Bernard Arnault, the CEO of the luxury good conglomerate, LVMH, has overtaken the SpaceX founder for the top spot, according to Bloomberg and Forbes.
The 51-year-old tech billionaire’s dip in the rankings comes as shares in Tesla experienced a steep drop, which he owns 14% of, and is now worth $178 billion while the 73-year-old fashion executive has a personal value of $188 billion.
In late October, Elon finalised his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform Twitter after months of disputes, both online and legal. It is believed that the reduction in Tesla’s trading price is partly down to the drama surrounding his purchase.
In July, Elon tried to pull out of the deal but Twitter – that was led by Parag Agarwal – threatened to take him to court, forcing him to finalise the arrangement.
Dan Ives, a rep for Wedbush Securities, an investment firm told BBC News: "Musk has gone from a superhero to Tesla’s stock, to a villain in the eyes of the Street, as the overhang grows with each tweet.
“The Twitter circus show has hurt the Musk brand and it’s a major overhang on Tesla’s stock. Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk."
Elon’s acquisition of Twitter – which has been marred by many scandals – was funded in part by selling billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares, which led to the value falling.
In addition, their price has been negatively impacted by investors’ dim view on the electric supercars market demand and other issues.
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