Updated Mar 6, 2024, 12:32pm EST
Topline
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos briefly surpassed Elon Musk as the richest person in the U.S. on Wednesday, though Musk reclaimed the title after just a few minutes, according to Forbes’ calculations, as Musk’s net worth takes a dramatic hit in the midst of Tesla’s stock market woes.
Key Facts
Bezos’s $195 billion net worth topped Musk’s $193 billion fortune shortly after the stock market opened early Wednesday, though Musk retook the mantle as the richest American soon thereafter as Tesla shares pared their daily losses from 4% to 2%.
Wednesday was the first time since Aug. 19, 2021 that Musk placed outside of the top two in Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings.
Musk also lost the No. 1 spot in late 2022, around the same time Tesla shares plunged following news of production challenges and investor concern surrounding Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter—though the tech billionaire later reclaimed the title of world’s richest person on June 8, 2023.
Musk first entered the top three in 2021, when he had an estimated $151 billion in net worth and was ranked No. 2 behind Bezos on the year’s billionaires list.
Tangent
Musk told Forbes in 2021 he planned to send a silver medal to Bezos when he overtook the Amazon founder as the world’s richest man, writing, “I’m sending a giant statue of the digit ‘2’ to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal.”
Big Number
$55 billion. That’s how much lower Musk’s fortune was Wednesday than it was at the end of 2023. The nearly 30% year-to-date decline in Tesla’s share price knocked the value of Musk’s roughly 21% equity stake in the electric vehicle maker down significantly.
Key Background
Bezos’ and Musk’s combined net worth of about $390 billion is roughly equivalent to the 2023 gross domestic product of Hong Kong. About two-thirds of Musk’s fortune is tied to his Tesla stake, while about 85% of Bezos’ net worth stems from his roughly 10% stake in Amazon, as of Forbes’ estimates in September. Amazon stock is up 17% this year and 86% over the last 12 months, outgunning Tesla’s -28% and -8% year-to-date and 12-month returns as investors sour on Tesla’s diminishing profit margins.
Surprising Fact
The two billionaires are rivals vying not just for the crown as America’s richest man, but also in the land of private space travel, as Bezos’ Blue Origin and Musk’s SpaceX vie for NASA contracts.
Further Reading
The Top 10 Richest People In The World (March 2024) (Forbes)
The Real-Time Billionaires List (Forbes)