Elon Musk overtakes Jeff Bezos to become world’s richest person: ‘How strange’
2 min read
Elon Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla, has overtaken Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person, according to a ranking of the super-wealthy.
The South African-born entrepreneur ascended to the top of the Bloomberg Business Index on Thursday morning after a five per cent rise in Tesla’s shares increased the value of Musk’s stock holdings and options by US$10bn (£7.4bn), bringing his net worth to around $191bn (£141bn).
Interplanetary ambition
Musk, 49, who is also known for his spacecraft company SpaceX, has seen his net worth rocket by more than $150bn (£111bn) over the past year. This is largely thanks to a surge in Tesla’s share price, which rose 743 per cent in this period.
A post on Twitter pinned to the top of Musk’s feed outlines the grandiose ambitions the billionaire hopes to fulfill.
“About half my money is intended to help problems on Earth, and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves,” it states.
‘How strange’
The eccentric business magnate, who moved to Canada when he was 17 and then on to the US, appeared to take his new status as world’s richest person in his stride.
“How strange,” Musk tweeted in response to a post from a fellow user. “Well, back to work,” he added.
Bezos, CEO of Amazon, might have been knocked off the top spot, but having an estimated $187bn (£138bn) fortune will likely soften the blow. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is now the world’s third-richest person, with an estimated $132bn (£97bn) to his name.
