Amazon founder Jeff Bezos regained first place in the Global Billionaires Index Bloombergahead of the boss of Tesla, SpaceX and X, Elon Musk, who took the title from him in 2021.
According to the ranking updated on Monday, Mr. Bezos’ fortune now stands at 200 billion US dollars, surpassing that of Mr. Musk, valued at 198 billion.
The French CEO of the luxury group LVMH, Bernard Arnault, remains in third place on the podium of the world’s richest people, with 197 billion dollars.
Jeff Bezos, who has no longer led Amazon since July 2021, which he founded in 1994, has benefited in particular from the good performance of the online sales giant’s shares, of which he is still the largest shareholder, and from the sale of group securities in recent weeks, for a total amount of $8.5 billion.
The sale of these shares could, however, cause him to lose his first place again, due to the taxes on the capital gains that he will have to pay to the American tax authorities, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Conversely, Elon Musk saw his fortune fall by more than $30 billion, under the effect of the drop in the price of Tesla, which lost nearly 25% over the last twelve months.
But the biggest blow to the fortune of the billionaire of South African origin comes from the cancellation at the end of January by a Delaware judge of a Tesla stock compensation plan, estimated at $60 billion, having been granted to him. granted in 2018.
One of the shareholders of the car manufacturer took legal action, considering this remuneration excessive.