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Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to be world's second-richest person

Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to be world's second-richest person

The only other person richer than him at this moment? Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.
Updated 24 Nov, 2020

Remember last week when Elon Musk, the chief executive officer of electric car company Tesla, zoomed past Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to become the third-richest person in the world? Well, this week he has become the second-richest person in the world!

He toppled Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person on Monday after a further surge in Tesla’s share price. The 49-year-old entrepreneur’s net worth rose by $7.2bn (£5.4bn) to $127.9bn.

Musk has added $100.3 billion to his net worth this year, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people, reported Fortune. In January, he ranked 35th (yeah, we're still wrapping our mind around the jump from 35th richest to SECOND richest in less than a year).

According to Fortune, about three-quarters of his net worth is comprised of Tesla shares, which are valued more than four times as much as his stake in Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX.

The only other person richer than him at this moment? Amazon boss Jeff Bezos.

The publication added that Musk’s milestone marks only the second time in the index’s eight-year history that Microsoft co-founder Gates has ranked lower than number two. He held the top spot for years before being bumped by Bezos in 2017. Gates’s net worth of $127.7 billion would be much higher had he not donated so prodigiously to charity over the years, noted Fortune (he has given more than a whooping $27 billion to his namesake foundation since 2006).

"The year has been a lucrative one for the world’s richest people. Despite the pandemic and widespread layoffs that have disproportionately affected the world’s working class and poor, the members of the Bloomberg index have collectively gained 23%, or $1.3 trillion, since the year began," said Fortune.

Gates, who has been dethroned as the second-richest, earlier this year touched on Musk’s controversial comments about Covid-19, telling the automaker entrepreneur to stay in his lane.

“Elon’s positioning is to maintain a high level of outrageous comments,” Gates said. “He’s not much involved in vaccines. He makes a great electric car. And his rockets work well. So he’s allowed to say these things. I hope that he doesn’t confuse areas he’s not involved in too much.”

Here's what there no confusion about: we all need to take a page from Musk's book on how to make more money!

Comments

NACParis Nov 24, 2020 05:11pm
Amazing. NYSE is an investors playground which assesses the value of rich peoples. Tesla is so far a loss-making company yet market capitalization is huge.
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well-wisher Nov 24, 2020 07:38pm
Gates is not in competition with any one. His actions are noble and Musk should follow his example and do good for the weak and needy people of the world now while share price is high. Who knows tomorrow?
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HonorBright Nov 24, 2020 07:52pm
It's high time NAB wakes up and takes notice of this outrageous increase in Musk's wealth. Say enough is enough..
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Mahmood Nov 24, 2020 08:19pm
And I am right behind them, at #500 Million!
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Mahmood Nov 24, 2020 08:27pm
@NACParis The markets don't value a company merely based on their earnings or revenues, but on their potential to revolutionize the world, innovative products and technologies and future prospects. FYI, last year Tesla earned 52 cents a share profit. So it is NOT a loss-making company as you suggest. Also, Tesla, along with SpaceX is a big player in not only global automative industry and first to the market in Electric vehicles, but the space progam that Musk is heading, is far more cost effective, less cumbersome and much faster and probe the space at far lesser cost than NASA was able to offer so far. Hence many foreign governments and private company launch their satellittes and space mission with his company than on their own. His company is far more advanced than any US auto maker.
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Pakistani Nov 24, 2020 08:40pm
@well-wisher - True
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Just Saying Nov 24, 2020 08:47pm
He knows how to make money by selling hype, If only he knew how to make cars. In 1990 all the richest men in the world were Japanese railroad barons, because the land they owned was worth more than several countries. The Japan stock and property bubble burst, nikkei has never come close to its 1989 peak and the land in Japan is worth 1/10th of its value in 1990 while the debt has only grown bigger. Where are the Japanese barons now?
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Steve Nov 24, 2020 10:21pm
@well-wisher don't you think that inspiring others to make electric cars, solar city, that battery in Australia and things like that are helping the planet as a whole. He is just starting out with the big money. Giving away money is a temporary solution to the permanent problems that mankind is achieving
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Russell Underwood Nov 25, 2020 01:05am
congrats to Elon Musk . I should have purchased Tesla shares
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Sikander khan Nov 25, 2020 06:21am
Paper billionaire like Zuck not worth the paper it’s written on like Liz Holmes went from multibillionaire at Theranos to zero in a day.
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Rafi Nov 25, 2020 07:22am
Isn't he involve in an scam as if in the stock market because of his exponential growth of his Tesla share as mention in the article above.
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Saif Nov 25, 2020 08:05am
Well done bro Go ahead
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Saif Nov 25, 2020 08:05am
Go ahead
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Saif Nov 25, 2020 08:06am
Best wishes bro Go ahead
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ahmed Nov 25, 2020 10:29am
Bill Gates is no more interested in this race now. He's already spending half of his profits every year in philanthropy
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Say Nov 25, 2020 10:51am
It is just a bubble. Actual worth is less than half. Well said @Just Saying.
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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Nov 25, 2020 01:26pm
What happens if the price of his stocks go down as it happens every day in all stock exchanges in the world including the New York Stock Exchange?
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Ahmad Gul Nazir Nov 25, 2020 03:02pm
What benefit does it bring in plight of poors living below poverty line?
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Zak Nov 25, 2020 09:12pm
Wealth and fame are ephemeral and in the end everyone goes as they came, i. e, with nothing. It's not what you have but what you have done in this world for humanity.
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TR Nov 26, 2020 03:37pm
Congratulations.
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