Jeff Bezos beats Elon Musk as world's richest man — here's how he became wealthy

Elon Musk has lost his position as the richest person in the world to Jeff Bezos, who has recovered the top spot on the global wealthy list.

As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk is worth $198 billion (£154.5 billion), while the founder of Amazon is currently worth $200 billion (£156 billion), according to The Standard.

In recent years, there have been multiple lead changes between the two as they compete - whether consciously or unintentionally - for the title with Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH.

It returns Bezos to the top for the first time since 2021's autumn. He reportedly benefited from a soaring stock price even though he is no longer in charge of the company.

Here are some important things to know about world’s top three richest men:

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos started Amazon.com in a Seattle garage in 1994, not long after leaving the D E Shaw hedge fund. When he first proposed the concept of an online bookshop to David E Shaw, his old supervisor, he was met with disinterest.

Amazon.com began as a book retailer before growing into a one-stop shop for all things related. It may currently be the biggest retailer in the world. Some of Amazon's surprise forays into new markets, like its 2017 acquisition of Whole Foods and entry into the pharmacy industry, demonstrate the company's consistent pattern of diversification.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk was born in South Africa and raised in Pretoria before coming to the United States to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

He later co-founded PayPal, which he sold to eBay in 2002 for $2.5 billion (£2.1 billion), after his first software start-up, Zip2, was acquired in 1999 for $307 million (£255 million). In 2002, he established SpaceX and currently serves as the CEO of Tesla. He is the company's biggest stakeholder, owning an estimated 14% of the company.

In October, he successfully finalised the $44 billion (£36 billion) acquisition of Twitter, which he rebranded as X.

Bernard Arnault

The 74-year-old French millionaire is in charge of 70 of the most well-known fashion and cosmetics companies in the world, such as Sephora, Tiffany, and Louis Vuitton.

Arnault, like many billionaires, hailed from a prosperous family that had a prosperous construction company. After purchasing Christian Dior with $15 million (£12.5 million) from his father's company, he made his debut in the fashion world in 1985.