Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to become second richest in the world

Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is now the second richest person in the world after overtaking Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.

The 49-year-old entrepreneur, who is also the co-founder of space exploration company SpaceX, saw his net worth surge from $ 7.2 billion to $ 128 billion on Monday as Tesla shares surged within days after the announcement of the admission of the electric car company. to the S&P 500 index in December.

Musk’s net worth grew by $ 100.3 billion in 2020, marking the largest increase among those on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. In January, Musk placed 35th.

Last week, Musk pushed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to fourth when he won third place.

The only person ahead of Musk is now Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who took first place from Gates in 2017 and has stayed there ever since.

The move forces Gates to third place, marking only the second time in the index’s eight-year history that he has not been placed in the top two. However, Gates’ net worth of $ 127.7 billion would be significantly higher if it were not for his philanthropic efforts. Since 2006, he has donated more than $ 27 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

This year, those in the Bloomberg Index have collectively added 23%, or $ 1.3 trillion, to their net worth as millions of workers face financial hardship after being made redundant by their employers due to the coronavirus pandemic in progress.