Just a handful of weeks after overtaking Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the second-wealthiest person alive, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has quickly caught up to and, as of Thursday, has surpassed Jeff Bezos as the single-richest man on the planet.
According to CNBC, the tech entrepreneur and devout meme enthusiast now boasts a net worth of more than $185 billion, putting him above Bezos and the Amazon founder’s paltry $184 billion. Much like his previous run up on Gates, Musk’s newfound wealth is mostly attributed to surging Tesla stock, of which he owns about $152 billion, based on a current market cap of $760 billion and Musk’s approximate 20 percent ownership of the electric car company.
When Musk’s wealth surpassed Bill Gates’s in late November, Tesla traded at $555 per share. Today, as of this writing, the EV maker commands about $800 per share. The pace at which the Tesla boss’s net worth has grown is record-breaking, representing the quickest anyone has ever risen to the top of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (the Index updates when the New York trading day closes, in case you’re wondering why ” Elon R Musk” is still showing as second place). Believe it or not, Musk started 2020 worth “just” $27 billion, with Tesla trading at under $100 per share, and barely registered as part of the top 50 richest people. To put that into perspective, Musk has accumulated more wealth over the past 12 months than Bill Gates’ entire $132 billion fortune, via CNBC.
Today’s news would also mark the first time since 2017 somebody other than Bezos has occupied the top spot.
In response, Musk himself didn’t seem all that phased or impressed by his new status.
Back to work, indeed, Elon. $TSLA isn’t going to hit $1,000 by itself. Actually, on second thought…
Got a tip? Send us a note: tips@thedrive.com