The South Africa-born entrepreneur, Elon Musk is now the wealthiest person on the planet.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, shares in electric car manufacturer Tesla increased by more than 6%on Thursday to drive ElonMusk into the top spot, dethroning Jeff Bezos from the position he has held for more than three years.
Tesla’s new valuation is eight times more than the combined values of Ford, General Motors, and Fiat Chrysler.
Musk skyrocketed past Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in November 2020 to become the second-richest man in the world, with $128 billion at the time.
Most of Musk’s vast personal fortune comes from owning 20% of Tesla and 54% of his space transportation business, SpaceX.