Elon Musk Becomes The World’s Richest Man In 2021

Elon Musk is the richest person in the world in 2021. As a year of transition, 2021 has been touted.

And the new year has already arrived, as far as the pecking order of global wealth goes. Just six days later, with a personal net worth of $188 billion, Elon Musk had already lapped Jeff Bezos into being the richest person in the world in 2021.

How did this happen so quickly?

Tesla shares have skyrocketed by 1,030 percent to $816 a share since the stock market’s low in March 2020. Elon Musk happens to own around 241 million of those shares, bringing in a short period of time his asset accumulation into overdrive.

SEE ALSO: How Elon Musk Built His Empire | Elon Musk History

 

Pedal up to the Medal

For Musk, the boom in riches was so prolific that he left other billionaires in the dust.

One year ago, he wouldn’t have cracked the top 20 list—but with a surge in wealth of 548 percent since a year ago, he now sits at the top of the heat as the world’s richest individual.

Rank	Billionaire	Wealth (Jan 6, 2021)	One-Year Change
#1	Elon Musk	$188 billion	548%
#2	Jeff Bezos	$184 billion	57%
#3	Bill Gates	$132 billion	45%
#4	Bernard Arnault	$114 billion	8%
#5	Mark Zuckerberg	$100 billion	23%
#6	Zhong Shanshan	$93 billion	n/a
#7	Warren Buffett	$87 billion	-2%
#8	Larry Page	$82 billion	22%
#9	Sergey Brin	$79 billion	22%
#10	Larry Ellison	$79 billion	32%

Is this a temporary bump, or will Elon Musk remain atop the ranks of the world’s wealthiest individuals for the rest of 2021?

In fact, everything depends on the success of Tesla’s stock price, and those who have bet against Tesla in recent years do not have a great track record to rely on.

That said, price fluctuations can occur in either direction, and if Tesla’s stock finds itself coming down to Earth, it’s likely that Musk’s rating will fall down with it in the billionaire pecking order.