INTERNATIONAL - Elon Musk, the outspoken entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX, is now the richest person on the planet.
The South Africa-born engineer's net worth was $188.5 billion at 10:15 a.m. in New York, $1.5 billion more than Bezos, who has held the top spot since October 2017. As chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, Musk is also a rival to Bezos, owner of Blue Origin, in the private space race.
The jump in Tesla's stock price further inflates a valuation light-years apart from other automakers on numerous metrics. Tesla produced just over half-a-million cars last year, a fraction of the output of Ford Motor and General Motors. The company is poised for further near-term gains as Democrats captured both Georgia Senate seats and handed control of Congress to the party that's advocated for quicker adoption of electric vehicles.
Despite his astronomical gains, Musk has said he has little interest in material things and has few assets outside his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. He told Axel Springer in an interview last month that the main purpose of his wealth is to accelerate humanity's evolution into a spacefaring civilization.
Skeletons in the cupboard
He’s also the creator of Bitcoin
U forgot solar City,that he runs with his brother
elonmusk leen 'n R100 tot vlg Vrydag toe? 🤔
Now that’s a Buffalo 🦬 Much respect elonmusk
Is it necessary to be this rich though? Should it even be of news?
Wow!