Bill Gates Just Lost His Spot as Second-Richest Man in the World
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has lost his spot as the second-richest person in the world to Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the electric carmaker’s stock continues to surge.
Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index shows Musk barely above Gates, with both billionaires worth $128 billion.
Musk leaped past Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week, but still trails Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who sits at the top of the list with a net worth of $182 billion, the New York Post reported.
Tesla’s stock, which accounts for a majority of Musk’s net worth, has helped Musk’s wealth grow this year by $100.3 billion. Musk was ranked 35th on Bloomberg’s index in January.
Tesla shares surged by almost 28 percent in the days after the news that Tesla will be admitted to the S&P 500 index on Dec. 21.
“The carmaker’s entry to the S&P 500 means a slew of big investment funds that duplicate the index’s holdings may be forced to buy an estimated $40 billion worth of Tesla shares to avoid errors tracking the index’s performance,” the Post reported.
Tesla is the most valuable carmaker in the world with a market cap of $387 billion, over $150 billion ahead of Toyota.
This is only the second time in eight years that Gates has not been in the top two on Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, CNBC reported.
Gates was the world’s richest person until Bezos passed him in 2017.
Gates’ net worth would be higher if he didn’t contribute to philanthropic endeavors; he has given over $27 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2006.
The Tesla CEO and Microsoft co-founder have publicly traded jabs this year about the coronavirus pandemic.
Gates criticized Musk’s controversial comments in a CNBC interview in July.
“Elon’s positioning is to maintain a high level of outrageous comments,” Gates said.
“He’s not much involved in vaccines. He makes a great electric car. And his rockets work well. So he’s allowed to say these things. I hope that he doesn’t confuse areas he’s not involved in too much.”
Musk countered, “Billy G is not my lover,” in a tweet referencing Michael Jackson’s 1983 song “Billie Jean.”
? Billy G is not my lover ?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 30, 2020
The billionaires on Bloomberg’s index have added 23 percent, or $1.3 trillion, to their collective net worth this year.
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