Who Got Rich This Week: Elon Musk’s Ascent To World’s Richest And Tech-Powered Gainers

Musk reclaimed his perch as the richest person on the planet as shares of Tesla jumped on Thursday.

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No one benefited more from the stock market this week than the CEO of Tesla. On Thursday, Elon Musk ended the day as the richest person in the world, a title LVMH’s Bernard Arnault had taken from him and held since December 2022. Tesla shares rose to their 2023 peak as of Friday’s market close, after General Motors agreed to use Tesla’s Supercharger network to charge their electric vehicles, the company announced on Thursday. The Tesla founder saw a $19.7 billion increase in his fortune over the course of the week through market close Friday. Tesla’s stock is up 126% since January 1st.

Steady wins the race and along with Musk, another of this week’s gainers has seen a consistent increase in the stock price of his company since the start of the year. Rick Cohen got $3.8 billion richer this past week as shares of his warehouse automation company Symbotic are up by 29% in a week, and more than 250% since the beginning of January, benefiting from the AI boom. Another gainer who got a boost from AI is GitLab founder Sytse “Sid” Sijbrandij. Sijbrandij got some $300 million richer this week as shares of GitLab shares rose thanks to strong quarterly earnings and to the company’s incorporation of AI-powered features into its platform. Spanish retail tycoon Amancio Ortega benefitted from a strong earnings report. Ortega, who owns the majority of Inditex, the company behind fashion retailer Zara, gained $2.5 billion since last Friday as shares got a boost.

Not everyone had an up week. Facebook cofounders Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin shed $2.6 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively, largely due to Apple’s announcement of its new virtual reality headset on Monday. Shares of Facebook’s parent company, Meta, ended the week down 2.8% as its head start on the virtual reality landscape got clouded by a new competitor.

Here are a handful of this week’s biggest gainers and losers.

The net worth change is from close of markets on Friday, June 2, through close of markets on Friday, June 9.

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Elon Musk

Net Worth: $226.4 bil 🟢Up: $19.7 billion, +9.4%

Tesla still has a grip on the electric vehicle market, as General Motors agreed to use the company’s fast-charging stations beginning next year. The collaboration will give GM drivers access to more than 12,000 charging stations. Tesla’s stock closed on Friday at $244.40 – a record high for the company in 2023. Musk ended Friday $8.6 billion ahead of luxury goods tycoon Bernard Arnault, the world’s second richest person. Musk, who is also CEO of SpaceX and owner of Twitter, had been at the heels of the LVMH founder since December 2022, when Arnault became the richest person in the world. Tesla shares have risen more than 126% since the start of the year; Musk ended the week up by $19.7 billion.

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Rick Cohen

Net Worth: $19.7 bil 🟢Up: $3.8 billion, +23.3%

The owner of C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest grocery wholesaler in the U.S., got $3.8 billion richer this week thanks to an increase in the share price of his warehouse automation firm, Symbotic. Shares of the company have risen more than 250% since the start of the year and saw their biggest one-day increase, a 12.6% jump, on Wednesday. Symbotic’s AI-powered robotics have led to an increase in revenue this year. Cohen’s fortune jumped by 23% since last Friday.

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Sytse “Sid” Sijbrandij

Net Worth: $1.2 bil 🟢Up: $313 million, +32.8%

The GitLab founder saw the biggest percentage increase out of all billionaires this week as shares of the software company soared 39.8% since last week. GitLab, which Sijbrandij founded as a fully remote business in 2012, announced better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Monday and announced plans to fully launch an AI-powered product that will include code writing suggestions. On Tuesday shares jumped 31.2%.

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Amancio Ortega

Net Worth: $85.8 bil 🟢Up: $2.5 billion, +3%

The majority owner of Inditex, the company behind retail giant Zara and clothing brand Massimo Dutti, is $2.5 billion richer this week as strong earnings, announced on Wednesday, boosted the Spanish company’s stock price. The company reported a 54% profit increase for its first quarter along with a 13% uptick in sales. Inditex stock closed on higher this past week than it has since before the pandemic.

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Mark Zuckerberg

Net Worth: $94.1 billion 🔴Down: $2.6 billion, -2.8%

Eduardo Saverin

Net Worth: $14.8 billion 🔴Down: $2.9 billion, -16.5%

Facebook cofounders Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin saw their fortunes decline by $2.6 billion and $2.9 billion, respectively, as Apple’s launch of its new virtual reality headset, Vision Pro, marks new competition for Meta’s Quest sets. At $3,499, the device is Apple’s most expensive product and far pricier than its competitors. Shares of Meta, which has spent billions to grab market share in the virtual reality market, tumbled 2.8% this week. Zuckerberg reportedly poked at Apple’s new release during an all-hands meeting on Thursday, saying the headset was only for “a person sitting on a couch by themself,” according to The Verge.

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