In today’s episode of “The Rich Get Richer”, Elon Musk has surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest man.
That’s right, the SpaceX CEO is not only the proud owner of the world’s most bizarrely named child but now the world’s largest bank account after a six per cent rise in Tesla shares saw his net worth increase to around about US$191 billion (AUD $246.6 billion). Cool.
Don’t feel too bad for Bezos though (does anyone?) because the Amazon founder also made some more cash thanks to a lift in the company’s shares which made his net worth creep up to US$187 billion (AUD$241 billion).
According to Bloomberg, the last member of the shockingly rich triumvirate, Bill Gates is now a “distant” third with his US$132 billion (AUD$170 billion) fortune.
Musk, who was born in South Africa, demonstrated an interest in computers from an early age and taught himself computer programming. As the victim of severe bullying, he was even hospitalised after being thrown down some stairs by his tormentors.
The brilliant and unusual entrepreneur, who boasts a number of degrees from prestigious universities, founded Tesla in 2003. Prior to that, his lifelong fascination with space led to him investing $100 million of his own money to start SpaceX in 2002 with the goal of building a colony on Mars within a few decades. In 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to put a person into orbit.
Among his many professional accomplishments, Musk is father to a son named X Æ A-12, with his partner Grimes and twins Griffin and Xavier and triplets Damian, Saxon and Kai from a previous marriage.
Musk and his obscenely rich mates were the subjects of much scrutiny in 2020, as it was reported that America’s 614 billionaires grew their net worth by a collective USD $931 billion (approx AUD$ 1.2 trillion and I might seriously vomit), while the rest of the world plunged into economic crisis and millions were left unemployed.
The stark contrast between the increasing wealth of the very rich, while millions of people faced devastating choices between food, rent or bills (if they could afford any of them at all) was one of the many factors that shone a light on widespread socio-economic disparity and the harsh realities of capitalism.
So remember folks, shop local, support small businesses and keep buying lottery tickets… I guess.
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