Tesla CEO, Elon Musk’s climb along the world’s richest men ladder continues with him now in second place ahead of the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates.
According to the Blomberg Billionaire Index, Elon’s net worth hit a high on Monday as share prices continued its surge from $7.2 billion to $127.9 billion and with the company’s inclusion in the S&P 500 index raising stock value close to $500Billion.
Meanwhile, Gates stocks also moved from $67.3 billion to $127.7 billion which puts him in the third spot.
Musk re-emphasized back in 2006 that his goal was to;
”Build sports car. Use that money to build an affordable car. Use that money to build an even more affordable car. While doing above, also provide zero-emission electric power generation options.”
He also predicted that self-driving Tesla s, which are still a work in progress would be a game-changer in the automaker industry, and in July of 2020, his company’s market capitalization surpassed Toyota’s for the first time.
Gates on the other hand has given as much as $45.5 billion to charitable causes, including the eponymously named Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which would have made him an even bigger billionaire.
Musk and Gates have had a somewhat chaotic year with the business magnates having differing views on important issues. Gates in early August referred to electric cars in a blog post as “never be a practical solution” for replacing trucks and long-haul vehicles, while Musk’s replied to him via his Twitter handle saying that “he has no clue” about electric trucks. Musk has further gone on to call Gates a “knucklehead” for criticizing his efforts on conducting coronavirus antibody studies.
Musk’s net worth is not solely down to a large stake in Tesla, but also to his other companies, space exploration group SpaceX, and infrastructure and construction firm The Boring Company.