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The South African-born added $ 7.2 billion in wealth on Monday alone following Tesla’s latest surge. It now has an estimated $ 128 billion.
FILE: Elon Musk. Image: @ elonmusk / Instagram
NEW YORK – Elon Musk, the charismatic boss of electric car maker Tesla, has surpassed Bill Gates to become the second-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg’s list of billionaires.
South African-born Musk, 49, added $ 7.2 billion in wealth on Monday alone after Tesla’s latest surge. It now has an estimated $ 128 billion.
Frank Musk, who is also a co-founder of SpaceX, had already surpassed numerous luminaries in recent weeks, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Bernard Arnault, the head of French luxury giant LVMH.
Now, the only person backing is Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, whose wealth is estimated at $ 182 billion.
The turmoil from the coronavirus pandemic has allowed the ultra-rich to amass even more wealth as tech companies have gobbled up a larger market share of the economy.
In 2020, Tesla shares rose more than 500% and the company is now valued at more than $ 500 billion.
Musk, who owns about 18% of the shares, has made about $ 100 billion during this stretch.
Tesla shares have gained the most since the presidential election of Joe Biden, who favors more aggressive policies to tackle climate change. Tesla was also boosted by the announcement that it will be added to the prestigious S&P 500 index.
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