A surge in the value of Tesla has Elon Musk riding a wave of wealth creation, surpassing Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest person.
Musk, 49, the outspoken leader of the electric car maker and Space X, has seen his net worth increase $150 billion in the last 12 months, catapulting the total to $188.5 billion, about $1.5 billion more than Bezos, Bloomberg reported.
“How strange,” Musk said on social media. “Well, back to work.”
Bezos has held the top spot on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index since 2017. Bezos would still hold a lead if not for a divorce from his wife, MacKenzie Scott, in which he gave her a quarter of his stake in Amazon. He also donated $680 million to charity in November.
While Musk’s value has continued to increase, he has few assets and little interest in material possessions. He hopes to use his wealth to advance humankind.
“I want to be able to contribute as much as possible to the city on Mars,” Musk told Business Insider. “That means just a lot of capital.”