Mark Zuckerberg becomes third richest man in the world

Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Elon Musk to become the third richest person in the world, marking the first time since 2020 that the two competing billionaires have come in these positions.

Elon Musk, who ranked first on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in early March, fell to fourth place after Reuters reported that Tesla had canceled plans to make a less expensive car, leading to a decline in stock prices (Musk denied the report).

This came in the wake of news earlier in the week of a decline in deliveries of Tesla cars in the three months to March, marking their first decline on an annual basis since the early days of the Covid pandemic, as reported by Al Anbaa.

Musk’s wealth shrank by $48.4 billion this year, while Zuckerberg added $58.9 billion to his wealth as Meta Platforms’ share price rose to new highs, including a new record on Friday.

This is the first time that Zuckerberg has entered the top three in Bloomberg’s ranking of the richest people since November 16, 2020, when his wealth was $105.6 billion, and Musk’s wealth at the time was $102.1 billion. Musk’s fortune is now worth $180.6 billion, compared to Zuckerberg’s $186.9 billion.

The transformation of the gap between the fortunes of Musk and Zuckerberg, which reached $215 billion in November 2021, shows how stocks of major technology companies have outperformed stocks of electric cars that were previously the focus of attention, especially anything related to artificial intelligence.

Tesla’s stock price has fallen by 34% this year, making it the worst performer in the S&P 500 index. The stock has been hurt by the global slowdown in demand for electric cars, increasing competition in China and production problems in Germany. Meanwhile, Meta’s stock price rose 49% thanks to strong quarterly earnings and enthusiasm around the company’s AI initiatives.

The rivalry between the two billionaires extends beyond their wealth: Musk and Zuckerberg have been involved in an ongoing public dispute that intensified when Meta launched the Threads app, a social media platform that competes with Musk’s X. The two even exchanged barbs last year over a potential cage fight. Musk, 52, recently revived the idea on X, saying he would compete with Zuckerberg, 39, “anywhere, anytime.”

Musk’s net worth could take another hit after a judge in Delaware threw out Tesla’s $55 billion pay package. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index continues to include options from this pay package, which is one of Musk’s largest assets, in calculating his wealth.

Bernard Arnault, president of luxury products company LVMH, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, occupy the first two places in the Bloomberg wealth rankings, with a fortune of $223.4 billion and $207.3 billion, respectively.