Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest person, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Musk temporarily ceded the title in December to Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. But the brains and economic muscle behind Tesla, SpaceX, and now Twitter regained his hold on the top spot.
Elon Musk reclaims title of world’s richest manhttps://t.co/1kYBk1Vuod pic.twitter.com/1XuisYhsFc
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) February 28, 2023
The report listed Musk’s net worth currently at $187.1 billion, ahead of Arnault’s net worth of $182 billion.
Musk lost the prime position when Tesla shares tumbled in December. By Jan. 3, 2023, Yahoo Finance reported the electric vehicle manufacturer’s share price bottomed out at $108.10.
But as of Monday, the EV’s stock rebounded to a $207.63 close.
2022 proved to be an uneven affair for the mogul as he spent much of the year uncertain over the status of the proposed Twitter acquisition. There was also the issue of a lawsuit by Tesla shareholders that was resolved in February.
The litigation in the federal civil trial in San Francisco ended in the CEO’s favor. Plaintiffs wanted Musk held liable for tweeting in 2018 that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. That move never materialized.
The billionaire endured harsh criticism from the left after it became known that he intended to purchase Twitter. An aggressive and well-funded campaign ensued to stifle advertising on the social media platform, and it apparently dug into the company’s profits.
Then there’s the White House scorn for Musk, which is rather ironic considering he led the effort to make electric vehicles a viable product in the U.S. But since he does not kowtow to liberal causes and especially unions, he fell out of favor in Democratic Washington.
Still, Musk tweeted in recent days that Twitter is “trending to break even” and that he managed to rescue the company from bankruptcy.
Nothing comes easy in that position, and the CEO faces multiple lawsuits from laid off employees and even landlords asserting that Twitter offices are past due on rent.
But Tesla enjoyed a tremendous rebound in stock value, and serious trimming of Twitter’s payroll may have set the company on the road to profitability. It is encouraging to see a person with their values clearly in order be successful, especially in today’s woke business environment.
