Elon Musk passes Bill Gates to become the second-richest person on the planet
As of last night, Musk had a net worth of $127.9 billion, which officially puts Musk as worth more than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $127.7 billion.
Musk surpassed Gates’s net worth by $200 million (December 01, 2020), thanks to a rise in the value of Tesla’s shares rising more than $23, or just over 6.5%, on Monday. But Musk’s net worth didn’t just surge by a few hundred million, rather it jumped $7.2 billion in a single day.
The world’s richest man is still Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who is worth north of $181 billion as of this writing, so Musk has a ways to go if he wants to take the top spot. And given that Musk is only $200 million ahead of Gates, it’s possible Musk could drop back to the No. 3 spot today should Tesla shares fall—or Microsoft shares or other Gates assets rise).
At the beginning of 2020, Musk was worth just under $28 billion. During all the turmoil that is 2020, Musk has added more than $100 billion to his net worth.
And it’s not just Musk’s net worth that has skyrocketed during the worst year of this century so far. Though Musk gained the most of any rich person on the planet, the wealthy overall are having a banner year. As Bloomberg notes, while the pandemic has devastated our bodies, families, and jobs, the world’s richest people have seen their collective wealth increase by $1.3 trillion since January 1, 2020.
(17)
