Starting in 2017, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, was the richest person in the world. He took the title from Bill Gates and stayed on top as the wealthiest person for nearly four years. During that time, Elon Musk began growing his personal net worth until he surpassed Bezos in 2021 to become the richest man alive.
This began somewhat of a competition between the two men, especially as both were in the business of outer space, with SpaceX from Musk and Blue Origin from Bezos. In fact, Blue Origin sued SpaceX, calling into question the safety of the rockets from Musk’s company. At a 2021 conference, Musk called out Bezos for what he believed was an attempt to shut down Blue Origin’s competition. “I think he should put more of his energy into getting to orbit, [rather] than lawsuits. You cannot sue your way to the moon, no matter how good your lawyers are,” Musk said about Bezos and his team.
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Though Musk surpassed Bezos as the richest man, the Tesla CEO was himself passed by Bernard Arnault, the French CEO of the LVMH luxury goods conglomerate, who became the wealthiest person in the world in 2023. That same year, Arnaut invited Musk to a family luncheon with Maye Musk, and two of Arnault’s sons, Antoine and Alexandre. In a photo taken by Antoine, Musk and Arnault stand side-by-side in suits with the Eiffel Tower in the background and the caption, “THE picture.”
