Posted on 11/24/2020 6:44:38 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Tesla co-founder Elon Musk is now the world’s second richest person after he leapfrogged Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.
The 49-year-old entrepreneur, who is also the co-founder of space exploration firm SpaceX, saw his net worth rise by $7.2 billion to $128 billion on Monday as Tesla shares surged days after the news that the electric car company will be admitted to the S&P 500 index in December.
Musk’s net worth has risen by $100.3 billion in 2020, marking the largest increase among those on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. In January, Musk ranked 35th.
Last week, Musk pushed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg down into fourth position when he claimed the third spot.
The only person ahead of Musk now is Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who took the top spot from Gates in 2017 and has stayed there since.
The move forces Gates down into third place, marking only the second time in the index’s eight-year history that he hasn’t been ranked in the top two. However, Gates’s net worth of $127.7 billion would be considerably higher if it weren’t for his philanthropic endeavors. Since 2006, he has given over $27 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
This year, those on the Bloomberg index have collectively added 23%, or $1.3 trillion, to their net worth as millions of workers face financial hardship after being laid off by their employers due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
At least Musk gives us stuff that works.
Now two rocketmen at the top two spot. Getting into the rocket launching business is clearly a good career move.
Musk is a genius. Bill Gates is a really good business man who got rich selling something to IBM that no one else thought was worth much.
ATTABOY!
Like a Tesla?
No single person should control that much wealth.
There is a SpaceX launch tonight at 9:13PM. Another of the StarLink series.
So we should take it away and give it to those deemed more deserving?
You want the government to take it?
Musk’s “wealth” is mostly “air.”
Money’s not a problem when the person who controls it also earned it.
Problems come when the ‘third generation’ decides to ‘help the world’ for their own ego gratification...
The thing about Musk is he’s one of the few mega rich people that views money as a tool to leverage what he wants to accomplish instead of just accumulating it and sticking in investments for the sake of having the biggest balance sheet. When he earned his first Billion at paypal, he could have gone off and lived on a private island for the rest of his life, but he risk every penny (and was on the verge of bankruptcy) when he started SpazeX. Then when SpaceX started earning money, he turned right around and risked his fortune again by starting Tesla, when everybody said there was no room for another car company.
Good, I like Elon Musk, he’s a liberal but he is also quirky and fun. I love that he is spending his money on space.
LOL! It is hard to believe that someone could make so much money from rich consumer virtue signaling and governments picking and choosing the winner of the subsidy lottery. Trillions of dollars are being squandered based on the global warming scam and Musk was positioned to be one of the primary recipients. It is that factor, more than the "genius" of his products that has made him so wealthy.
Gates and his associates produced a product that became a defacto standard that nearly everyone on the planet now uses in some shape or form. The interesting thing for me being from the same generation as Gates and growing up just 30 miles from where he did... is how many people Gates and company ended up dragging to fabulous wealth in this area. We have thousands “Microsoft Millionaires” in this area many of whom retired early. I worked in a college computer lab as a work study job. A couple of the lackies that I worked with fall into that category along with high school classmates that I see at reunions.
We do not seem to hear about thousands of Amazon millionaires or Boeing millionaires in this area. And I do not recall hearing about thousands of Apple millionaires, Facebook millionaires, Google millionaires or Tesla millionaires in other areas. I am sure that there are many people who have been enriched because of their associations with these companies. But for some reason the only company which you seem to hear of which has produced literally thousands and thousands of fabulously wealthy people... some of whom I know personally is Microsoft.
So you can say what you will about Microsoft their founders and their products. They are the company which for whatever reason dragged the largest number of people into extreme wealth. Personally, I find that to be a more impressive feat than someone who has managed to enrich only themselves or a couple close associates.
https://onlyfunfacts.com/science/technology/microsoft-employees-millionaires/
True of most of the “super rich”. Fortunes today are made on selling an idea, being an early investor, and knowing when and how much cash to take out. For example, look at America Online and the wealth produced for its’ founder and early investors. Amazon is still in the growth stage, but what happens when investors want a return on their investment instead of growth in stock value? Meanwhile Bezos periodically unloads stock to buy other assets, knowing that growth, as expected by investors, can not be maintained. What value will Facebook (or professional sports) have if subscriptions plummet and advertising revenue does likewise? Point being, there’s a lot of air in any valuation and values can deflate as easily as inflate.
You have made a good point there. Tesla did risk a lot and was rewarded for his good choices.
Am I still subsidizing his cars?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.