Elon Musk is back on top of Bloomberg's ranking of the richest people on earth. The billionaire lost his position to Bernard Arnault, who helms French high-fashion conglomerate LVMH, in December of 2022, as Tesla's stock declined significantly amid a broader market downturn. 

But as the stock has recovered in early 2023, Musk's fortune has risen with it. 

Shares of Tesla are up around 95 percent since January 1, and Musk's net worth was $187.1 billion at the close of markets on Monday, placing Arnault in second place with his $185.3 billion. 

Now the big question is whether Tesla will keep up the momentum. The stock is still down more than 80 percent over the past 12 months, and the headwinds it faced in 2022 remain. 

In particular, Musk remains saddled with making Twitter financially viable. On Saturday night, the social media platform laid off at least 200 people, which is roughly 10 percent the remaining 2,000 who work for the company. There were around 7,500 employees when Musk started making cuts to reduce costs. 

In addition, waning demand for electric vehicles has forced Tesla to cut prices to move inventory. While the cuts have boosted sales, they remain sluggish in key markets such as China. 

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