Mark Zuckerberg beats Elon Musk in billionaire 'cage fight' for first time since 2020

Mark Zuckerberg passed Elon Musk on Friday to become the third-richest person in the world, the first time since 2020 the arch-rival billionaires have held those positions.

Musk, who ranked first on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as recently as early March, fell to fourth after Reuters reported Tesla Inc. had canceled plans for a less-expensive car, sending shares lower. However, Musk denied the report. That followed news earlier in the week that Tesla’s vehicle deliveries fell in the three months through March, their first year-over-year decline since the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Musk’s wealth has shrunk by $48.4 billion this year, while Zuckerberg has added $58.9 billion to his fortune as Meta Platforms Inc. climbs to fresh highs, including a new record on Friday.

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; Zuckerberg’s is $186.9 billion.

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, and particularly anything involving artificial intelligence.

Tesla shares have fallen 34% 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% thanks to strong quarterly earnings and excitement about the company’s AI initiatives. It’s the fifth-best performer on the S&P 500.

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 that competes with Musk’s X. The two even traded barbs last year about a possible cage fight. Musk, 52, recently revived the idea on X, saying he would 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.

Bernard Arnault, the chairman of luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos hold the first two spots on Bloomberg’s wealth ranking with fortunes of $223.4 billion and $207.3 billion, respectively.