Elon Musk has just stripped Jeff Bezos of his title as the world's richest man. How did it happen?
Musk Is Now The Richest Man: Bloomberg
On Thursday, Bloomberg said Tesla founder Elon Musk had overtaken Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest person.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk is now estimated to have a net worth of $191 billion, while Bezos' net worth was at $187 billion as of early Thursday.
Bloomberg's valuation of Musk's fortune was based on a 6% rise in Tesla shares Thursday. During the same time, Amazon shares increased by 2%.
Why Bezos Was Left Behind
Tesla's stock skyrocketed in 2020, and Amazon's shares also saw significant increases owing to the popularity of e-commerce. However, the difference between Musk and Bezos may boil down to stock options.
First, Bezos has no Amazon stock options at the moment. Not only has the e-commerce mogul given away shares to charitable institutions he also lost 19.7 million shares to ex-wife MacKenzie Scott in one of the most expensive divorce proceedings.
Musk, on the other hand, has not disposed of any of his shares in Tesla. The electric car innovator is also nearing qualifications to purchase around 16.9 million shares during the first quarter. Musk already owns 170 million Tesla shares.
All About Musk's Stellar 2020
Before Thursday's big reveal by Bloomberg, Musk was already pretty much all over the news due to the biggest year in the electric vehicle industry.
In an analysis by financial technology and data company S3 Partners revealed that Tesla short-sellers lost an accumulative and record $40.1 billion last year while Musk's fortunes soared.
The investors who shorted Tesla stocks have had public spats with Musk as assumptions spread about the EV manufacturer's supposed share prices plunging.
Fast-forward to 2020 and Tesla shares soared to a record 743 percent throughout the year, despite some investors stating that the company was being overrated and that older automakers would rise to challenge Musk's ambitions.
How It's Going For Musk's Tesla
Musk isn't the only one who made history on Thursday as Tesla overtook Facebook to become the world's fifth most valuable company listed in the S&P 500.
Facebook's market capitalization was at $765 billion as of Thursday afternoon trading, while Tesla's market capitalization hit $767 billion. The surge for Tesla could have also been impacted by Facebook's drop of around one percent during the first full trading week of the year.
Skeptics are expected to continue watching Musk and Tesla closely throughout the year. Meanwhile, New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu already projected that Tesla stocks could trade up to $960 during the early months of 2021.
