Elon Musk Surpasses Jeff Bezos to Become the Richest Person on the Earth

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has once again been named the world’s richest person, officially overthrowing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Share of Tesla rose by 8.2% on Friday morning, increasing Musk’s net worth by $12.5 billion, to $189.7 billion, making him the richest person in the world. As of Friday morning, Musk was nearly $5 billion ahead of former world’s richest person Jeff Bezos, who has a net worth of $185 billion.

Musk was first reported to slightly surpass Jeff Bezos on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg. As of Thursday morning, shares of Tesla (TSLA) were up 6%, with Musk’s holding and options up by $10 billion, pushing his net worth to approximately $191 billion. At the time, Amazon's (AMZN) shares were up 2%, about $3 billion, pushing his net worth to $187 billion.

According to Forbes calculations, Musk is said to have gained an additional $165 billion on his fortune since March 2020, when his net worth was $24.6 billion. Despite the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the US and global economy, Tesla’s share price still dramatically skyrocketed, rising more than 720% in 2020. In just the first week of 2021, the EV maker’s share price has gained another 20%.

Elon musk currently has a net worth of $267.3 billion as of 2022.