Mark Zuckerberg overtakes Elon Musk as third wealthiest person in the world
By avagrace // 2024-04-11
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Mark Zuckerberg has overtaken Elon Musk to become the third-richest person in the world. Musk ranked first on Bloomberg's Billionaire Index in early March. In just one month's time he has fallen to fourth place, with this latest loss coming after Reuters reported that his electric car company Tesla had canceled plans to release a less-expensive car, which sent shares tumbling. This followed news earlier in the week that Tesla's vehicle deliveries had fallen in the three months up to March. This is the company's first year-over-year decline in deliveries since the early days of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. Musk’s wealth has shrunk by $48.4 billion this year, while Zuckerberg has added $58.9 billion to his fortune as Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc.'s value climbs to fresh highs, including a new record-high on Friday, April 5. It’s the first time Zuckerberg has broken into the top three on Bloomberg’s ranking of the richest people since Nov. 16, 2020, when he was worth $105.6 billion and Musk's fortune was $102.1 billion. Musk now has a net worth of $180.6 billion, while Zuckerberg’s fortune is $186.9 billion. (Related: Jeff Bezos regains title of world's richest person, overtaking Elon Musk for the first time since 2021.) The reversal of the wealth gap between Musk and Zuckerberg, which was as big as $215 billion in November 2021, illustrates how once-hot electric vehicle stocks have been usurped by Big Tech, especially when these tech companies involve themselves in the burgeoning artificial intelligence market. Tesla shares have fallen 34 percent this year, making it the worst performer in the S&P 500 Index. It’s been battered by a global slowdown in EV demand, growing competition in China and production problems in Germany. Meta, meanwhile, has surged 49 percent, thanks to strong quarterly earnings and excitement about the company’s AI initiatives. It is currently the fifth-best performer on the S&P 500.

Rivalry between Zuckerberg and Musk deepens

The two billionaires' rivalry extends beyond their wealth: Musk and Zuckerberg have been engaged in an ongoing public spat that intensified when Meta launched Threads, a social-media platform meant to compete with Musk's X, formerly Twitter. The two even traded barbs last year regarding a possible mixed martial arts fight, with Musk, 52, claiming that he would be willing to fight Zuckerberg, 39, "anywhere, anytime." Musk’s net worth could take a further hit after his $55 billion Tesla pay package was struck down by a Delaware judge. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index continues to use the options from that pay package, which are one of Musk’s largest assets, in its calculations of his wealth. Zuckerberg derives most of his wealth from his 13 percent stake in Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Its shares have surged 43 percent this past year. In contrast, Musk's net worth has plummeted by $40 billion. While Meta and several other "Magnificent Seven" tech stocks have climbed higher, Tesla has tumbled 29 percent. It's been dragged down by investors' worries about a slowdown in global demand for its electric vehicles. Learn more about Musk and Zuckerberg, respectively, at ElonMuskWatch.com and MarkZuckerberg.news. Watch this report from Breanna Morello and Dr. Kirk Elliott regarding how billionaires like Musk and Zuckerberg are selling their stocks in anticipation of a market crash. This video is from the channel MyPodcastDropped2320 on Brighteon.com.

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