Elon Musk loses top spot on Forbes list of world's richest people

Elon Musk (left) and Bernard Arnault (right).
Rashid Umar Abbasi/Reuters; Drew Angerer/Getty Images

LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault passed Elon Musk on Forbes Billionaires List on Wednesday.
Musk is still the world’s richest person on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index.
The Tesla chief’s net wealth has fallen by more than $100 billion this year.

Elon Musk gave up the top spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List to Bernard Arnault, the CEO of the French company that owns Louis Vuitton, on Wednesday.

The net worth of both men continued to be in flux, but Forbes estimated that Arnault was worth $185.8 billion on Wednesday afternoon, with Musk at $185.7 billion.

Musk’s fortune has fallen by more than $100 billion this year following a sharp slide in Tesla shares, which accounts for the bulk of his fortune.

Tesla was down almost 4% on Wednesday, valuing the EV maker at just over $541 billion. The stock has fallen almost 57% since the start of the year.

Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter has also played a role as he’s sold some of his holding in Tesla to help fund it. His focus on the social media company has also led some investors to question Tesla’s prospects.

On Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, however, the Tesla CEO is still estimated to be the world’s wealthiest person with a net worth of $179 billion. That makes him about $14 billion richer than the LVMH chief, who is worth $165 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Musk became the world’s richest person last year after overtaking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. At the time, Musk said he sent Bezos a silver medal to commemorate his victory.

Arnault is CEO and chairman of LVMH, the Paris-listed conglomerate that has become the world’s biggest luxury group. It owns about 70 fashion and cosmetic brands including Sephora, Tiffany & Co, Givenchy, Christian Dior, Dom Perignon and Moët Hennessy and is worth 358 billion euros ($376 billion).