Elon Musk Surpasses French Billionaire Bernard Arnault to Become the World's Richest Person

By Jace Dela Cruz

May 30, 2024 08:17 AM EDT

Elon Musk has reclaimed the title of the world's richest person after his wealth surpassed the immense fortune of Bernard Arnault, the French luxury goods tycoon.

Elon Musk Beats Bernard Arnault and Jeff Bezos to Become the World's Richest Person

According to Forbes, Elon Musk's announcement on Memorial Day weekend that his artificial intelligence startup xAI raised $6 billion at an $18 billion pre-money valuation propelled him back to the top spot.

As of Tuesday's market close, Forbes estimates Musk's net worth to be $209.5 billion, $5.2 billion more than Bernard Arnault, who has an estimated net worth of $204.3 billion.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos fell on the third spot, with an estimated fortune of $200 billion.

Recent Fundraising of Elon Musk's xAI

Last July, Elon Musk launched xAI, known for its Grok chatbot, to compete with companies like OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015. In a press release released on Sunday, xAI announced its recent fundraising and the launch of an open-source version of Grok.

The next day, in an X post, Musk invited engineers to join xAI on its mission of "understanding the universe, which requires maximally rigorous pursuit of the truth, without regard to popularity or political correctness."

Forbes estimates Musk's 60% stake in xAI to be worth $14.4 billion after its recent funding round, led by investors who also supported his Twitter takeover.

According to Forbes, the rest of the tech billionaire's wealth is mostly tied to his almost 12% Tesla stake and around 42% SpaceX stake, each worth roughly $75 billion at Tuesday's market close. On the other hand, Musk's 74% stake in his X social media platform is reportedly worth about $7 billion.