Elon Musk ousts Jeff Bezos on top Forbes billionaires list for first time with net worth of $219bn

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has topped Forbes’ annual billionaires list for the first time, ousting former Amazon president Jeff Bezos, who spent the last four years as the richest person in the world.

Musk, with an estimated net work of $219bn, has been on the list for a decade, with his massive wealth over the last several years attributed to his soaring and volatile Tesla stock. Two years ago, Musk ranked 31st in the world on Forbes list, with stock shares in his electric vehicle company at $72.24. One year later, his fortune expanded by billions, trailing Bezos by only $26bn.

In 2012, when he debuted on the list, his net worth was estimated to be $2bn. Today, Musk is estimated to be $68bn richer than just one year ago.

The number of world billionaires dropped by roughly 100 people in 2022, maintaining a global net worth of $12.7 trillion, down from last year’s $13.1 trillion.

But the number of billionaires in the US grew to 725 people, worth a combined $4.7 trillion, or roughly one-third of the all billionaire wealth in the world.

“The tumultuous stock market contributed to sharp declines in the fortunes of many of the world’s richest,” said Kerry Dolan, Forbes’ assistant managing editor of wealth. “Still, more than 1,000 billionaires got wealthier over the past year.”

This is a developing story