NEW YORK: Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing chief executive of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world’s wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday.
Musk is a major shareholder of the electric car company and has benefited from Tesla’s surging share price over the last year. CNBC estimated Musk’s wealth at $185 billion.
The distinction is the latest superlative for the South African-born Musk, who leads the aerospace venture SpaceX in addition to Tesla, which has become a pacesetter for the car industry as conventional automakers try to catch up to Tesla’s lead in electric autos.
Tesla had a strong 2020 as it ramped up auto production, broke ground on new factories and reported a series of profitable quarters that enabled shares to rise more than 700 percent during the year as it was added to the prestigious S&P 500 index.
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