Elon Musk has slipped down the list of the world’s billionaires to second place as Bernard Arnault takes the top spot.

 

Musk, 51, who bought Twitter for $44billion, last year earned the top spot on the Forbes World Billionaires list, which reckoned he had a net worth of $216bn.

 

However, it seems he is now in second place behind Bernard Arnault, 74, the chairman of French luxury goods giant LVMZ, which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Tiffany & Co.

 

CNN reported that Arnault was able to overthrow Musk in the annual list after his net worth grew more than $50bn to $211bn, as Musk’s net worth slumped to $180bn, $39bn less than it was last year, thanks to the purchase of Twitter which was funded by Tesla shares.

 

Forbes said: “Musk has mostly tweeted himself out of the top spot on the ranks.”

 

However, Musk’s SpaceX valuation increased from $13bn to $140bn in just the past year.

 

Still, that proved to not be enough to compete with Arnault, 74, who had a “banner year” in 2022 due to record-high profits at his companies.

 

Frenchman Arnault first appeared on Forbes’ billionaires’ list in 1997, when he was worth just $3.6bn, with his wealth subsequently growing due to the 70 luxury brands he owns.