--- title: "Elon Musk Poised to Become the Richest Person in the World" description: "According to Bloomberg, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could soon surpass Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world." date: "2021-01-07" modified: "2021-01-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-poised-richest-person-world" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "SpaceX" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Poised to Become the Richest Person in the World ![According to Bloomberg, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could soon surpass Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world.]() *\Image: Jae C. Hong/Victor Tangermann\* ## Richie Rich According to [*Bloomberg*'s Billionaire Index](), Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk could soon surpass Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world. Share prices of Tesla surged this week, bringing Musk within "just" $3 billion of Bezos' net worth, according to the Index, which is estimated to be $184 billion. For perspective, that's the gross domestic product of a small country. The news comes after Musk [surpassed Bill Gates' net worth]() on the Index in November. ## Rapid Rise Tesla's shares have been rallying for several months now. Share prices surged 743 percent in 2020 alone, [according to *Bloomberg*](). Despite producing only a fraction of the cars, Tesla has swiftly become more valuable than Ford and General Motors. And Tesla's future looks bright as well, [as *Bloomberg* points out](), with Democrats poised to take control of both houses of Congress. The Democratic party has been far more inclined to advocate for the electrification of cars, while a GOP-led Senate has largely been [lining the pockets of the oil and gas]() industry throughout Trump's term. The news is also representative of a massive shift of capital towards the world's richest people throughout the pandemic. The world's 500 richest people gained a nauseating $1.8 trillion in 2020, according to *Bloomberg*. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk Close to Surpassing Jeff Bezos as World’s Richest Person]() \[*Bloomberg*\] **More on Elon Musk's wealth:** *[ELON MUSK JUST BECAME THE SECOND RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD]()* ## 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]()