Top Line
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos overtook French luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault to become the world’s second-richest person on Monday morning as LVMH shares fell and Amazon shares rose slightly, setting up a day-long battle between the two for the richest title.
Forbes estimates that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ net worth is about $203.8 billion as of Monday. … [+]
Key Facts
Mr. Arnault, who oversees the LVMH empire that includes luxury fashion and cosmetics brands such as Louis Vuitton and Sephora, was second only to Mr. Bezos with a net worth of $203.9 billion as of 4 p.m., down $4.3 billion.
Arnault’s LVMH shares were down 2.21% at market close on Monday, while Amazon shares rose 1.5%, giving Bezos a small boost in net worth.
The richest person in the world remains Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine at $207.8 billion as of Monday afternoon.
Get Forbes breaking news text alerts: Start text message alerts and stay on top of the biggest stories making headlines of the day. Just text “ALERT.” (201) 335-0739 Or Sign Up here.
Points to note
The two continued to switch positions throughout the day: As of 4 p.m., Bezos and Arnault had swapped the second and third places at least four times.
Main Background
The top spot on our billionaire tracker has changed hands several times in recent weeks. Before Bezos overtook Arnault, Musk and Arnault were competing for the title of the world’s richest person. Amazon is up more than 6% in the past three months, while Tesla is up just 0.39% and LVMH is down 12.99% in the same period. Musk’s fortune has fluctuated this year as Tesla shares have slumped, but he could take the lead if Tesla shareholders vote on Thursday to reinstate his $50 billion compensation package. That would increase Musk’s Tesla stake from 13% to 22%.
Tongue
Earlier this year, Bezos and Musk were competing for the titles of second-richest person in the world and richest person in the US. The two swapped positions 13 times in March, after Musk had not lost the title of richest person in the US for more than two years.
References