No one has ever made – or lost – more money than Elon Musk.

Musk was reportedly worth $US340 billion 14 months ago.

He is now valued at $US137 billion, which also cost him the distinction of being the world’s wealthiest man.

That title now belongs to Frenchman Bernard Arnault, the chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton. He is worth worth $US162 billion ($238 billion).

Forbes dropped Mr Musk from the top-spot in its billionaire rankings in December.

Mr Musk, who operates the electric car company Tesla and aeronautics business SpaceX, acquired the social media platform Twitter for $US44 billion in October following a prolonged flirtation dating back to April.

It coincided with an ongoing depreciation in Tesla stock value that some shareholders do not believe is coincidental.

Mr Musk joked about losing money on Twitter on the social media platform in November.

“How do you make a small fortune in social media?” he tweeted. “Start out with a large one.”

The billionaire businessman has used the platform to advance his politics, which has made him largely unpopular with progressives who tend to be supportive of businesses such as Tesla that promote alternative energy.

Tesla recorded a 65% drop in stock value in 2022, capped off by a 44 per cent plummet in December. Even Mr Musk has sold billions of dollars in shares of the company as he continues efforts to make Twitter profitable.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the first person to become worth more than $US200 billion in April 2021.

Bloomberg puts his current worth at $US107 billion ($A157 billion). Mr Musk is the only other person to have reached the $US200 billion mark.

He welcomed the new year Sunday on Twitter.

“One thing’s for sure,” Mr Musk predicted. “It won’t be boring.”

Source | AAP