Elon Musk reclaimed the title of the world’s richest person during Memorial Day weekend by announcing that his new AI startup, xAI, raised $6 billion at a pre-money valuation of $18 billion.

This pushed his net worth to $209.2 billion, surpassing Bernard Arnault’s $199.3 billion and making Musk the richest person in the world. Arnault is now in third place, while Jeff Bezos is in second with an estimated $199.9 billion as of May 30, 2024.

Forbes estimates Elon Musk’s 60% stake in xAI to be worth $14.4 billion following a recent deal involving investors from his $44 billion Twitter acquisition (now renamed).

Musk’s fortune is primarily tied to his nearly 12% stake in Tesla and 42% stake in SpaceX, each valued at approximately $75 billion as of Tuesday’s market close.

Additionally, Forbes estimates the value of Musk’s 74% stake in his social media company has dropped to around $7 billion, nearly 70% less than its 2022 purchase price.

Tesla’s fluctuating stock price and rising SpaceX stock have kept Musk and Arnault vying for the world’s top spot.

In late January, a Delaware judge invalidated nearly $50 billion in performance-based Tesla stock options granted to Musk in 2018, ruling the award process was unfair.

Tesla shareholders will vote on reapproving Musk’s options, which Forbes reduced by 50% after the ruling, on June 13. Meanwhile, SpaceX is reportedly aiming for a valuation of $200 billion, up from $180 billion last December.

According to the Forbes Real Time Billionaire Index, here are the current top 10 billionaires as of May 30.

Elon Musk — $209.2 bn

Jeff Bezos — $199.9 bn

Bernard Arnault — $199.3 bn

Mark Zuckerberg — $166.4 bn

Larry Ellison — $153.2 bn

Larry Page — $145.5 bn

Sergey Brin — $139.4 bn

Warren Buffett — $133.0 bn

Bill Gates — $129.8 bn

Steve Ballmer — $126.5 bn

(BusinessDay)

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