Tesla CEO, Elon Musk Overtakes Amazon Boss, Bezos To Become Richest Person In The World

Chief executive officer of Tesla, Elon Musk has overtaken Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world’s wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday.



Musk is a major shareholder of the electric car company and has benefited from Tesla’s surging share price over the last year. CNBC estimated Musk’s wealth at $185 billion.


The distinction is the latest superlative for the South African-born Musk, who leads the aerospace venture SpaceX in addition to Tesla, which has become a pacesetter for the car industry as conventional automakers try to catch up to Tesla’s lead in electric autos.


Tesla had a strong 2020 as it ramped up auto production, broke ground on new factories and reported a series of profitable quarters that enabled shares to rise more than 700 percent during the year as it was added to the prestigious S&P 500 index.


Musk has hit a stride after stumbling in 2018, when US securities regulators required the Tesla chief to step down as chairman and pay $20 million to settle charges he defrauded investors with false claims on Twitter in August about a possible bid to take the company private, which was quickly aborted.


Shares of Tesla surged 5.9 percent to $800.43 in late morning trading, lifting the company’s market capitalization above $750 billion.

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