For the first time since 2020, the bitter rival billionaires have shared the third-richest person in the world title, with Mark Zuckerberg surpassing Elon Musk on Friday.
As recently as early March, Musk was ranked first on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. However, after Reuters reported that Tesla Inc. had canceled plans for a less expensive car, shares fell and Musk dropped to fourth place. (Musk refuted the allegations.) This came after reports earlier in the week that, for the first time since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Tesla’s car deliveries decreased in the three months ending in March.
This year, Musk’s wealth has decreased by $48.4 billion, while Zuckerberg’s wealth has increased by $58.9 billion as Meta Platforms Inc. reaches new heights, setting a record on Friday.
It’s the first time Zuckerberg has broken into the top three on Bloomberg’s ranking of the richest people since Nov. 16, 2020, when he was worth $105.6 billion and Musk’s fortune was $102.1 billion. Musk now has a net worth of $180.6 billion; Zuckerberg’s is $186.9 billion.
The reversal of the wealth gap between Musk and Zuckerberg, which was as big as $215 billion in November 2021, illustrates how once-hot electric vehicle stocks have been usurped by big tech, and particularly anything involving artificial intelligence.
Tesla shares have fallen 34% this year, making it the worst performer in the S&P 500 Index. It’s been battered by a global slowdown in EV demand, growing competition in China and production problems in Germany. Meta, meanwhile, has surged 49% thanks to strong quarterly earnings and excitement about the company’s AI initiatives. It’s the fifth-best performer on the S&P 500.
The two billionaires’ rivalry extends beyond their wealth: Musk and Zuckerberg have been engaged in an ongoing public spat that intensified when Meta launched Threads, a social-media platform that competes with Musk’s X. The two even traded barbs last year about a possible cage fight. Musk, 52, recently revived the idea on X, saying he would fight Zuckerberg, 39, “anywhere, anytime.”
Musk’s net worth could take a further hit after his $55 billion Tesla pay package was struck down by a Delaware judge. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index continues to use the options from that pay package, which are one of Musk’s largest assets, in its calculations of his wealth.
Bernard Arnault, the chairman of luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos hold the first two spots on Bloomberg’s wealth ranking with fortunes of $223.4 billion and $207.3 billion, respectively.
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