Elon Musk is on the verge of retaking the top spot among billionaires in the world as his net worth has increased by $54 billion so far in 2023.

Elon Musk is very close to reclaiming his position as the richest person in the world after losing it to Bernard Arnault in December as a result of Tesla Inc.’s 74% increase this year.

Musk revealed this week that between August and December, he donated 11.6 million Tesla shares to unspecified philanthropic causes, it could take him a little longer to surpass the French luxury goods tycoon. On the days when Musk donated the equities, the closing prices put the stock’s value at around $1.9 billion.

The admission comes as evidence of rising demand for Tesla’s electric vehicles indicates that 51-year-old Musk’s lead over Arnault has shrunk to less than $1 billion. With his most recent gift, his net worth has increased to around $191.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s up more than $54 billion this year, but it’s down from a record of more than $300 billion in late 2021 when he chose to purchase Twitter in a leveraged buyout close to the height of the tech market.

Musk, Tesla’s CEO and top individual shareholder gave the organization shares worth roughly $5.7 billion in 2021, making it at the time one of the greatest charitable gifts in history. The Musk Foundation, which recently donated money to organizations in the region of Brownsville, Texas, adjacent to his SpaceX spaceport, as well as education and carbon-removal programs, was later identified as the donation’s beneficiary.

The foundation, which relocated from California to Texas during the epidemic, had a significant boost in size as a result of the 2021 bequest. Due to the increase in the organization’s assets, Musk will need to take on additional humanitarian activities. In the US, private foundations are required to donate 5% of their annual assets to charity. Musk contributed over $160 million from his company in 2021, by far the most he has ever done in a single year.

Yet even though it is one of the biggest foundations in the nation, Musk’s nonprofit organization still has a small workforce. Musk, Jared Birchall, Musk’s right-hand man, and Matilda Simon are listed as directors on its most current tax documents. No other workers are mentioned. A Wednesday request for comment from Birchall went unanswered.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest American organization, with assets of nearly $55 billion by the end of 2021, distributed about $6.2 billion in awards during that year and employed over 1,700 people. Although SpaceX has taken a larger percentage in recent years, Tesla stock still represents a significant portion of Musk’s fortune. To support his acquisition of Twitter, Musk sold more than $20 billion worth of Tesla stock last year.

Because of the current surge in Tesla shares, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is getting richer and is almost ready to reclaim the title of the richest man in the world. Tesla shares have gained 68% this year, almost making up for losses from 2022. Just in the previous five days, the price of Tesla shares rose by about 9%. If this trend continues, Elon Musk will have more fortune than Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, combined. According to Forbes and Bloomberg, Arnault passed Musk in December.

Bernard Arnault and family – $189 billion (£156 billion)

The current estimated net worth of the Bernard Arnault family is $189 billion (£156 billion). The 73-year-old French billionaire is in charge of 70 of the most recognizable fashion and cosmetics companies in the world, including Sephora, Tiffany, and Louis Vuitton. Like many billionaires, Arnault was born into a prosperous family that, in his case, ran a flourishing construction company. He entered the fashion sector in 1985 after purchasing Christian Dior with $15 million from his father’s company.

Arnault, who resides in Paris, is wed to concert pianist Helene Mercier. The marriage has five children, four of whom—Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine, and Alexandre—work for LVMH, the chairman and CEO of which is Arnault.

Elon Musk – $186 billion (£152 billion)

According to estimates, Elon Musk is worth $186 billion (£152 billion). He was raised in Pretoria, South Africa, where he was born, before relocating to the United States to attend the University of Pennsylvania. He co-founded Paypal, which he later sold to eBay for $2.5 billion, after his first software business, Zip2, was acquired in 1999 for $307 million. In addition to running Tesla and being its largest stakeholder with a stated 14% stake, he established SpaceX in 2002. In October, he finalized the $44 billion (£36 billion) acquisition of the social media platform Twitter.

According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which were made public on Tuesday, Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, gave Tesla shares worth $1.9 billion last year. In the second half of 2022, a total of 11.6 million shares were donated to an unidentified charity.

Donations to reduce your tax liability

Stockholders are exempt from paying taxes on the money they accumulate through owning stock options under U.S. law. Unrealized profits are what are accruing wealth and are not subject to taxation. The money made from the sale of the stock holdings, however, is subject to capital gains tax. Nevertheless, if the stock is given to a charity, this can be waived.

Between August and December of last year, Musk sold $22 billion worth of Tesla stock. This procedure resulted in the sale of 49 million shares, which are subject to capital gains tax, and reduce Musk’s stake in Tesla to about 13 percent. Although the capital gains tax applies to these shares, the contribution of 11.6 million shares will nevertheless provide some relief for him.

Musk started donating shares in August, according to SEC filings, but approximately 70% of the gift occurred on three days in December 2022, which is a strong indicator that they were done to reduce their tax liability for the fiscal year. Since he was required to pay $11 billion in taxes on his earnings in 2021, Elon Musk became the wealthiest taxpayer in American history last year. A separate year, 2022, saw a value decline of over 65 percent for Tesla’s stock. Musk’s tax obligation is limited to the portion of Tesla shares that were sold, and giving to charity will lower it.

edited and proofread by nikita sharma