Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk reclaimed his position within 24 hours, and he once again becomes the only person on the planet who has a fortune of more than $200 billion—at least for the time being.
Musk, the 50-year-old tech tycoon, saw his wealth soar by $8.49 billion on Thursday to $207 billion. Tesla shares rose 4.81 per cent amid a broad rise in US stock markets, stumbling early in the session after Russia launched a military attack on Ukraine.
Tesla chief executive Musk, the world’s richest person, is worth $207 billion—nearly $31 billion more than the world’s second-richest man, Jeff Bezos, who’s currently worth $176 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires index.
On Wednesday, Musk slipped out of the elite $200 billion club for a day because his wealth tumbled by $13.3 billion to $198.6 billion. The Tesla boss remains the richest person in the world.
So far this year, Musk’s fortune took a $63.2 billion hit, more than the next three richest people combined ($60.1 billion). Worth mentioning here is that Amazon founder Bezos has seen $16.4 billion wiped out from his fortune this year. French luxury goods billionaire Bernard Arnault has lost 29.7 billion, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shed $14 billion from his fortune.
Last year, Musk donated almost $6 billion worth of Tesla shares to charity, becoming America’s biggest philanthropist after Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates.
Musk and Bezos are the only two people whose wealth has ever crossed $200 billion to date. In August 2020, Bezos saw his fortune rise above $202 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and he became the first person to cross the $200 billion threshold.
On November 4, Musk’s net worth climbed to $340.4 billion, when Tesla shares reached a record high. Last year, he lost $50 billion in two days, and the lost marks the largest two-day drop in the history of the index, as per Bloomberg
