Elon Musk has become the second-richest man in the world, "stealing" the title from Bill Gates, as his net worth soared $7.2 billion, reaching $127.9 billion, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Musk's fortune has risen significantly as Tesla's market value closed in on $500 billion - and about three-quarters of his net worth is comprised of Tesla shares.
Bill Gates was the number one businessman in the world for many years before Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos surpassed him in 2017. At the moment, the Microsoft founder's net worth is estimated at $127.7 billion, while he has given more than $27 billion to charity since 2006, donating money to his namesake foundation.
In total, Bloomberg Billionaires Index members gained an additional $1.3 trillion over the course of the year, despite the pandemic and massive economic crisis that has engulfed the world.