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Musk Overtaking Gates as World's 2nd Richest Individual Unlocks Meme Gates on Twitter

For the last eight years, Bill Gates, the co-founder of software giant Microsoft has kept his position as either first or second richest person on the planet, that is until today. Elon Musk, the CEO of electric car company Tesla on Tuesday reaped the benefits of a major rise in the firm's share prices, pushing Gates down a spot.
Sputnik

Musk, 49, gained a whopping $7.2 billion on Tuesday, taking his net worth to $127.9 billion. The tech maverick, who ranked 35th on Bloomberg's list of the world's 500 richest people in January successfully added $100.3 billion to his coffers to become the globe's second-richest person.

Musk's turnover finally managed to displace Gates, who since 2012 has been second or first. The Microsoft wizard's current net worth stands at $127.7 billion. 

Elon Musk Becomes Second-Richest Man in the World, Overtaking Bill Gates

This interesting turn of events has ushered in a loud and funny meme fest on Twitter around the world. With on-point one liners and sarcastic memes, netizens are trying to defend their favourite billionaire – because why not.

​Roughly over half of Musk's net worth is in Tesla shares. The company is closing in on attaining a $500 billion market value and the remaining funds come from his stakes in the firm SpaceX. 

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of e-commerce giant Amazon holds the top position as the world's wealthiest individual with a fortune of $182 billion. His net worth has soared by over $67 billion this year.

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