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Elon Musk is no longer the world’s richest person.

Elon Musk is many things, but he is no longer the world’s wealthiest person as of this week.  According to Forbes and Bloomberg News, France’s Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury goods producer LVMH, currently holds that position.

It is the first time the Tesla and SpaceX inventor has lost from the top spot since surpassing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in September 2021.

Musk’s fortune is entirely determined by the price of Tesla shares, which has lost more than half its value since January, with the decline accelerating following Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter.

Mr. Musk’s Twitter acquisition was only concluded after months of legal struggle, and some have blamed Tesla’s share price drop on the distraction of the takeover.

After acquiring a stake in Twitter at the start of the year, Mr. Musk made his $44 billion bid in April, which many thought was excessive.

He backed out of the contract in July, expressing worries about the amount of false accounts on the network.

Twitter officials eventually took legal action to get Mr Musk to honour his pledge.

The “circus” around the Twitter transaction, according to Dan Ives of research firm Wedbush Securities, has dragged on Tesla’s share price.

“Musk has gone from a superhero to Tesla’s stock, to a villain in Wall Street’s eyes, as the overhang builds with each tweet,” he told the BBC.

“The Twitter circus display has harmed Musk’s reputation and placed a significant burden on Tesla’s shares. Musk is Tesla, and Musk is Tesla.”

Mr Musk sold billions of dollars in Tesla stock to help fund his purchase, which sent the stock down.

Investors are also concerned that demand for the company’s electric vehicles may decline if the economy slows, rising financing rates deter consumers, and competing firms increase their electric vehicle offers.

Tesla has also been hammered by recalls and government investigations into incidents and its autopilot technology.

According to Forbes, Arnault’s net worth is now $190.1 billion, while Musk’s is $181.3 billion, with Musk losing the top place in its rankings late Monday. Arnault, 73, owns 48% of LVMH, the parent company of brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany.

Musk’s turbulent rule has seen an exodus of advertisers from the social network over worries about a spike in misinformation and hate speech since completing the acquisition of the social media platform in October.