Elon Musk Has Overtaken Bill Gates to Become the World’s Second Richest Person

Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is presently the world’s second-richest individual after he jumped Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, as per the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.

The 49-year-old entrepreneur, who is additionally the co-founder of space exploration firm SpaceX, saw his total assets ascend by $7.2 billion to $128 billion on Monday as Tesla shares flooded days after the news that the electric car company will be admitted to the S&P 500 index in December.

Musk’s net worth has ascended by $100.3 billion in 2020, denoting the biggest increment among those on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. In January, Musk positioned 35th.

A week ago, Musk pushed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg down into the fourth position when he claimed the third spot.

The only person in front of Musk currently is Amazon manager Jeff Bezos, who took the top spot from Gates in 2017 and has remained there since.

The move forces Gates down into the third spot, marking only the second time in the index’s eight-year history that he hasn’t been positioned in the main two. In any case, Gates’ total assets of $127.7 billion would be ranked higher if not for his philanthropic endeavors. Since 2006, he has given over $27 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

This year, those on the Bloomberg index have all in all collected 23%, or $1.3 trillion, to their net worth as a huge number of laborers face financial difficulty subsequent to being laid off by their employers because of the progressing Coronavirus pandemic.