The share market moves around a lot. We, investors, know this, since enduring the volatility of the share market is one of the hardest parts of investing. But shares going up and down have more consequences than just the balances of our investment portfolios and super funds.
It more or less determines the richest people in the world. Billionaires typically don't keep their money in the bank. They invest in income-producing assets that compound wealth over time – no one saves their way to a billion.
Those income-producing assets could be property or private companies. But, more often than not, they are publically-listed shares. That is certainly true of the current five richest people in the world.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, Neuralink and The Boring Company, had an exceptionally rough year last year. Musk had the dubious honour of being the first human in history to lose US$200 billion in personal wealth last year.
This was largely driven by the collapse we saw in the Tesla share price, of which Mussk has a huge chunk of his wealth housed.
Tesla tanked by more than 65% in 2022, which led to LVMH's Bernard Arnault overtaking Musk as the world's richest person in the later months of last year.
But Arnault's spot at the top of the greasy pole wasn't to last.
Elon Musk is back as the world's richest person
Today, Elon has his crown back. After a brief stint of being only the world's second-richest person, Musk has just reclaimed his gold medal. And he can thank Tesla stock, that same company that put such a big dent in his net worth last year.
While Tesla stock cratered in 2022, it has seen a shocking renaissance in 2023 thus far. Since 6 January, the Tesla stock price has risen by a whopping 85%, going from US$113 to the US$207.63 it is commanding today.
This has catapulted Musk back up to the top of the rich list. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, today, Musk's fortune stands at US$187 billion. That's just ahead of Arnault's US$185 billion.
Here's a list of the top five richest people, their fortunes as they currently stand, and the companies they are associated with:
| Billionaire | Fortune (US$) | Source of Wealth |
| Elon Musk | $187 billion | Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter |
| Bernard Arnault | $185 billion | LVMH |
| Jeff Bezos | $117 billion | Amazon |
| Bill Gates | $114 billion | Microsoft |
| Warren Buffett | $106 billion | Berkshire Hathaway |
So we'll have to wait and see how long Musk's stint as the world's richest person lasts this time.
