Jeff Bezos overtakes Elon Musk to reclaim world’s richest person title

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has reclaimed the top spot on the world’s richest list, winning the title back from Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk just weeks after losing it.

Tesla shares slid over two percent on Tuesday, erasing around $4 billion from Musk’s fortune, according to ranking websites’ estimates. The drop ended Musk’s six-week reign as the world’s wealthiest man, according to Forbes, which currently puts his net worth at $173.4 billion, compared to Bezos’ $190.3 billion.

As a result, Bezos took back the title he had been holding for almost three years before Musk briefly surpassed him. The Amazon founder’s net worth has been surging in recent years along with his company’s stock price. However, it’s still possible that the two billionaires could trade places again in the near future.

Bezos is getting ready to leave his post as CEO of the online shopping giant later this year to focus on other projects. It comes as Amazon’s business has been booming during the pandemic, with consumers turning to online retailers for necessities amid lockdowns. That previously allowed Bezos’ net worth to hit $200 billion, making him the first man in history to reach the milestone.

Musk has recently been at the epicenter of some of the biggest market events – from a Reddit insurgency against hedge funds attempting to short-sell GameStop stock to the cryptocurrencies' rally. Almost all of his statements have caused ripple effects in the crypto space, including the recent move by Tesla to invest $1.5 billion in bitcoin, and the billionaire's vocal support for dogecoin.

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