Elon Musk overtook Bill Gates as the world’s second-richest person following a surge in his net worth amid a rise in his company’s shares.
Elon Musk overtook business magnate Bill Gates on Monday, becoming the world’s second-richest person as his net worth skyrocketed from $7.2 billion to $127.9 billion, after a surge in the company’s shares. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Tesla co-founder has added $100.3 billion to his net worth this year.
Nearly three-quarters of Musk’s wealth ranks have been driven by Tesla, according to a report from Fortune. His net worth largely comprises Tesla shares that are valued more than four times his stake in his aerospace company SpaceX.
Bill Gates held the top spot for several years until Amazon founder Jeff Bezos overtook him in 2017. Gates’s net worth is $127.7 billion, but Fortune suggests it would have been much higher if he had not made donations so prodigiously to charities.
Gates has given over $27 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation since 2006. Gates and Musk have previously engaged in verbal spats, with Musk ridiculing the 65-year-old philanthropist, who he claims knows nothing about electric cars. Musk also responded to a question on the Microsoft co-founder’s declarations on electric trucks, saying “He has no clue.”
He has no clue
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 12, 2020
In Feb. Gates admitted that he wasn’t a fan of Tesla cars and wouldn’t fancy buying one. Musk responded saying, “My conversations with Gates have been underwhelming tbh.” Stay tuned in here for the latest business news.
