Jeff Bezos is closer to passing Elon Musk for the world's richest person as he sells Amazon stock

The battle for the title of world’s richest person continues — and Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos may retake the top spot very soon.

Bezos sold more than $2 billion worth of Amazon stock — almost 12 million shares — on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Another filing with the regulator indicates that he intends to sell more.

Bezos proposed the sale of 50 million Amazon shares around Feb. 7, worth an estimated $8.4 billion.

The stock sales could propel Bezos’ net worth, allowing him to reclaim his spot as the world’s wealthiest person from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

The current standings

Bezos currently sits at the No. 2 spot on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, with an estimated net worth of $200 billion. He is just $9 billion behind Musk, who currently sits atop the rankings with $209 billion.

Musk’s net worth, which is tied to Tesla’s stock, has taken a hit in recent weeks. The EV maker’s stock has dropped 24% in just the first two months of the year, making it the worst performing company on the S&P 500.

Musk’s wealth took another blow early this year when a judge voided his historic $56 billion executive compensation package, declaring it unfair to shareholders.

Those developments have already had some ramifications for Musk’s claim as the world’s wealthiest. On Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker, Musk first lost his No. 1 spot this year to the chairman of luxury conglomerate LVMH, Bernard Arnault, in late January. The two have since been trading the the top position on Forbes’ list. 

Forbes, which calculates estimated net worth’s differently than Bloomberg, has Arnault and family at No. 1, with a net worth of $220 billion.

Musk is No. 2 on the Forbes list with an estimated net worth of $201.6 billion. And Bezos is No. 3 at $195.9 billion.