Billionaire threatens Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos

Elon Musk-Jeff Bezos; Jeff Bezos-Elon Musk: this is the duo that has dominated the ranking of the biggest fortunes in the world for two years now.

The Tesla  (TSLA)  co-founder and Amazon  (AMZN)  founder are the two richest men in the world, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Their dominance was further reinforced by the stock market rise of their respective companies. Tesla, of which Musk is a major individual shareholder, is the sixth largest company in the world with a market capitalization of $864 billion at last check. Amazon, of which Bezos is now only executive chairman, is the fifth largest company in the world with a market value of $1.31 trillion.

This stock market success of the two companies is also that of their shareholders. Musk’s fortune is estimated at $247 billion as of August 30 by Bloomberg Billionaires Index, while Bezos’ is estimated at $152 billion.

More than $66 Billion in Eight Months

Now, however, the two tech tycoons, who also compete in the conquest of space via their respective companies SpaceX and Blue Origin, have to watch out for a new rival who is climbing very quickly in the world’s wealthiest rankings. This is the Indian billionaire and businessman Gautam Adani.

Adani has just surpassed big names in turn to become the third richest person in the world. His wealth is now valued at $143 billion, just $9 billion less than Bezos. He has passed the French businessman Bernard Arnault, CEO of the luxury empire LVMH  (LVMHF) , who had been third for many months. Arnault’s fortune is estimated at $137 billion, which relegates him to 4th place. Bill Gates, co-founder of software giant Microsoft  (MSFT)  is 5th with a fortune of $116 billion.

Of all the top ranking billionaires, only Adani and fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, in ninth place, are the only ones to have increased their wealth since January. Adani’s wealth has indeed increased by $66.2 billion in eight months, while that of his countryman has gone up by “only” $4 billion to $94 billion.

Conversely, Musk and Bezos saw their fortunes drop by $24 billion and $40 billion, respectively. At the rate of his rise, Adani could overtake Bezos in the coming weeks.

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