Elon Musk has overtaken Bezos as the richest person in the US, according to Forbes

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP

Forbes released its list of the 400 richest Americans on Tuesday, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the top, with a net worth of $251 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is in second place, and for the first time since 2017, he has lost his position as the richest person in the US. Microsoft’s Bill Gates is ranked third.

Due to rising inflation and stagnant markets in the US, the country’s 20 richest group will lose US$235 billion in 2022 compared to last year, adding US$1.6 trillion. This figure is nearly half of the $500 billion lost in the entire Forbes list.

This represents a reversal of the situation seen last year, when the top 20 billionaires on the list added $500 billion to their assets, during which stock prices rose.

Mark Zuckerberg lost the most money this year, dropping out of the top 10 on the list for the first time since 2014. Meta’s CEO faces a 57% drop in the company’s stock, taking nearly $74 billion from his holdings. Jeff Bezos lost $50 billion, the second-biggest decliner on the list.

Despite heavy losses, 6 of the top 20 billionaires managed to increase their wealth, including Michael Bloomberg, former New York mayor and Charles Koch, co-founder of Bloomberg and chairman and CEO of Koch Industries.

Musk was the biggest gainer, adding $60.5 billion to his fortune in a year, with an 11% rise in Tesla shares and a new round of funding for his rocket maker, SpaceX, valued at $127 billion.

He surpassed Tesla owner Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man, $100 billion more than the Amazon founder.

See who the 10 richest people in America are, according to Forbes

1 – Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX)

Net worth: $251 billion

2 – Jeff Bezos (Amazon)

Net worth: $151 billion

3 – Bill Gates (Microsoft)

Net worth: $106 billion

4 – Larry Ellison (Oracle)

Net worth: $101 billion

5 – Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)

Net worth: $97 billion

6 – Larry Page (Google)

Net worth: $93 billion

7 – Sergey Brin (Google)

Net worth: $89 billion

8 – Steve Palmer (Microsoft)

Net worth: $83 billion

9 – Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg LP)

Net worth: $76.8 billion

10 – Jim Walton (Walmart)

Net worth: $57.9 billion