Elon Musk catches up with Bill Gates to take the second richest ranking in the world



Elon Musk’s year of dizzying climbs reached a new high on November 23, when Tesla Inc co-founder passed Bill Gates to become the second richest person in the world.

The 49-year-old entrepreneur’s net worth increased by US $ 7.2 billion (RM29.45 billion) to US $ 127.9 billion (RM523.17 billion), driven by another surge in Tesla’s stock price . Musk added US $ 100.3 billion (RM410.28 billion) to his net worth this year, the most of anyone on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the 500 richest people in the world. In January he was in 35th place.

Its rise in the asset ranks is largely due to Tesla, whose market value is approaching nearly $ 500 billion (RM2.05 trillion). About three-quarters of its net worth is made up of Tesla shares, which are valued more than four times as high as its stake in Space Exploration Technologies Corp or SpaceX.

Musk’s milestone is only the second time in the index’s eight-year history that Microsoft Corp co-founder Gates has ranked below number two. He held the top spot for years before being bumped in 2017 by Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos. Gates’ net worth of US $ 127.7 billion (RM522.36 billion) would be much higher had he not donated so miraculously to charity over the years. He has given more than $ 27 billion (RM110.44 billion) to his namesake since 2006.

With the Nov. 23 move, Musk occasionally picks up a verbal sparring partner from Gates, who has ridiculed the Tesla billionaire on Twitter for having “no idea” about electric trucks, among other things. The two have also traded barbs on Covid-19. , whose charity is one of the leading bodies supporting vaccine research, has expressed concern about Musk’s stated suspicion of pandemic data and embracing certain conspiracy theories.

The year was a lucrative year for the richest people in the world. Despite the pandemic and widespread layoffs that have disproportionately affected the working class and the world’s poor, members of the Bloomberg index have collectively gained 23% – or US $ 1.3 trillion (RM5, -) since the start of the year. 32 trillion). Bloomberg




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