Elon Musk overtakes Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person thanks to Tesla’s surging stock

• Elon Musk just surpassed Jeff Bezos as the richest person on the planet.
• The Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s fortune soared as high as $187 billion on Thursday, outstripping the Amazon chief’s $186 billion fortune, according to calculations based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
• Musk’s wealth derives from his roughly 20% Tesla stake and 48% SpaceX stake, as well as 57 million exercisable Tesla stock options, Bloomberg says.
• The Tesla chief has added more than $150 billion to his fortune in the past year, after shares in his electric-vehicle company rocketed up 740% in 2020.
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Elon Musk has toppled Jeff Bezos to become the wealthiest person in the world for the first time, based on calculations using the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tesla shares rose as much as 4% on Thursday, boosting the net worth of its CEO to north of $187 billion. Amazon’s shares also rose by up to 2%, but that left Bezos a few billion short of Musk’s fortune.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed Musk and Bezos’ fortunes as $184 billion and $181 billion respectively as of Wednesday’s close. It’s set to be updated after trading ends for the day. 

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Musk’s wealth on paper reflects his roughly 20% stake in Tesla and 48% stake in SpaceX, as well as 57 million vested Tesla stock options, Bloomberg says. Bezos’ net worth largely derives from his 11% stake in Amazon.

The Tesla CEO’s fortune has ballooned by more than $150 billion in the past year, Bloomberg said, after the electric-vehicle company’s stock price rocketed up 740% in 2020.

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Musk and Bezos have left other billionaires in their rearview mirrors. The world’s third-richest person, Bill Gates, was worth $132 billion as of Wednesday’s close.