---
title: "Elon Musk Just Became the Second Richest Person in the World"
description: "Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dethroned Bill Gates to become the second-richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index."
date: "2020-11-24"
modified: "2020-11-24"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-just-became-the-second-richest-person-in-the-world"
categories:
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "Bill Gates"
  - "elon musk"
  - "jeff bezos"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Elon Musk Just Became the Second Richest Person in the World

![Tesla CEO Elon Musk has dethroned Bill Gates to become the second-richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/elon-musk-just-became-the-second-richest-person-in-the-world-1.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: TED Conference via Flickr\</em\>*

## Tres Commas

Elon Musk has dethroned fellow billionaire Bill Gates to become the second-richest person in the world, according to the [Bloomberg Billionaire Index](<https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/?sref=YfHlo0rL>), after a surge in Tesla's share price made his net worth soar to $127.8 billion.

Musk has pegged his fortunes to several boundary-pushing industries including electric carmaker Tesla and space company SpaceX — both long shots at their inception that have succeeded beyond early observers' wildest expectations.

## Competitor Space

Gates remains hot on Musk's heels, though, with an estimated net worth of $127.7 billion.

The king of the hill is still Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who — like several other billionaires — added [unfathomable amounts of money](<https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-net-worth-increases-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-7>) to his net worth in 2020, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

## Electric Slide

Tesla became a S&P 500 index company last week, driving up market shares.

If everything goes according to Musk's plan, the CEO could take away over $55 billion in a [record pay deal](<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/21/elon-musk-tesla-bonus-pay>) that was approved in March 2018. To cash in, though, Musk will have to lead Tesla to a valuation of $650 billion by 2028.

**READ MORE:** [Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to be world's second-richest person](<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/nov/24/elon-musk-bill-gates-tesla-share-price-microsoft>) \[*The Guardian*\]

**More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk: First Mars City Will Start With Glass Domes](<https://futurism.com/elon-musk-first-mars-city-will-start-with-glass-domes>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)