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Tesla boss Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos to become world’s richest person – India Today

Outspoken billionaire Elon Musk has replaced Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world on Thursday, reported Bloomberg news. The 49-year-old Tesla and SpaceX chief was pegged to surpass Jeff Bezos earlier in the day after a fresh rally in Tesla shares.

And with Thursday’s gains, Musk’s net worth now stands at $188 billion, $1.5 more than Jeff Bezos, according to the report. Tesla shares are currently up over 5.50 per cent, trading at just short of $800. The fresh rally in the electric carmaker’s stock has elevated Musk above Jeff Bezos, who has occupied the position since October 2017.

While the pandemic-hit 2020 has been disastrous, the personal wealth of billionaires — especially tech entrepreneurs — have grown handsomely. Musk’s good fortune started in 2020 and his net worth has surged by over $150 billion in the last 12 months, making it one of the fastest bout of wealth creation in history. It may be noted that Musk had become the second-richest man in the world earlier in November 2020.

An unprecedented rally in the Tesla stock, which has surged over 740 per cent in 2020, is the primary reason behind the blistering pace at which Musk’s net worth increased. Higher optimism on Wall Street regarding Tesla, the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500 Index and a constant profit run helped significantly in boosting Musk’s net worth.

Not just Musk, but the world’s richest billionaires also saw their personal fortunes surge in 2020. The world’s richest 500 people, tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, added a record $1.8 trillion to their combined net wroth; it translates to a 31 per cent increase.

However, the real gainers were the top 30 names on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The top five on the list now have a net worth in excess of $100 billion, while the next 20 are worth at least $50 billion.

Read | Why Elon Musk decided to relocate from California to Texas