The creator of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, is once again ranked second richest person in the world. While luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault has seen the stock of his business LVMH decrease as the market for luxury goods such as bags, garments, champagne, and wines has significantly slowed down, tech and e-commerce billionaire Jeff Bezos has experienced a boost in fortune as tech stocks surge.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index reported the following net worth for the top 5 billionaires as of 17 October 2023
Elon Musk—$234B
Jeff Bezos—$156B
Bernard Arnault—$155B
Bill Gates—$125B
Larry Page—$124B.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ income has reportedly increased by almost $50 billion since the beginning of this year. Although he is way behind the richest man in the world Elon Musk, he has once again reclaimed the second position.
French billionaire Bernard Arnault has seen his company LVMH’s stock fall a lot this year as the demand for luxury goods is softening. As the company’s stock declined, Bernard Arnault lost $6.95 billion so far in 2023, while his company performed better in 2022. Recent quarterly results were also lukewarm, as reported by us, which also led to a decline in stock value.
Jeff Bezos’ Amazon saw a surge in stock price of 54 percent since the start of this year. The e-commerce giant has been posting strong results in all the quarters of 2023.
Although Jeff Bezos has regained his second position, he has not climbed back to his peak value of $214 billion in July 2021. However, Bernard Arnault was worth more than $200 billion earlier this year and has seen a greater fall in wealth this year. Elon Musk, the richest man in the world is the only billionaire to have a net worth of more than $200 billion. His net worth increased by $96.8 billion this year and is at $234 billion, as of now.
Tech companies including Amazon have seen a rise in stock price as stocks listed on the NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index XX: NDXT have increased by 43 percent this year. Stable interest rates as well as the advances in artificial intelligence have created renewed interest in tech stocks.