Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos to become the richest man in the world

Image Source: AFP

According to Bloomberg, the CEO the American electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla, Elon Musk has overtaken Amazon chief Jeff Bezos to be crowned the richest man in the world.

Tesla saw a rise in 6 per cent in its share price on 7th January, increasing Musk’s stock holdings and options by close to $10 billion, pegging his net worth to about $191 billion. In contrast, Amazon’s shares increased by less than 2 per cent, increasing Bezos’ shares by approximately $3 million, taking his net worth to $187 billion.

According to Bloomberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $132 billion.

Musk has had a phenomenal 2020 as the shares of Tesla surged by a whopping 743 per cent during the year. This caused the 170 million shares of Tesla that he already owns to increase in value by $106 billion during 2020.

The trend is continuing in 2021, with Tesla’s shares increasing more than $90 a share, or 13%, since the start of this year,

Musk’s reaction to the news of him becoming the richest man in the world was as unpredictable as the man himself is.

“How strange,” he tweeted in response to a Twitter account called ‘Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley’ sharing the news of him becoming the richest person in the world. He followed it up by another tweet that said, “Well, back to work …”

Musk is also the founder, CEO, and CTO of SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company. and the founder of The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction services company.

The maverick entrepreneur has consistently been ranked as one of the most innovative and powerful leaders in the world. However, he has also been criticized for his unorthodox stances and highly publicized controversies.

Isn’t this just an amazing feat achieved by Musk? Let us know your views in the comments section below.

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