The Tesla and SpaceX CEO gained the title on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index after a surge in Tesla’s share price,
Tesla shares spiked again after joining the S&P 500 Index, a list that measures the performance of 500 largest companies in the US.
Following the spike, Musk’s net worth rose by $US10.2 billion to $US120 billion, beating Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg out of the third-richest spot at $US114 billion.
Now Bloomberg is reporting Musk would only need one more stock market surge to eclipse Bill Gates out of the second-richest spot at $US128 billion.
According to Business Insider, the pair have an ongoing rivalry, feuding over COVID-19 electric vehicles and more.
In a recent fight over the coronavirus Gates called Musk’s comments “outrageous” while Musk called Gates a “knucklehead.”
Musk has downplayed COVID-19, criticizing lockdowns, endorsing hydroxychloroquine as a treatment, spreading misinformation, and questioning COVID-19 death data.
Another few stock market surges could also see Musk close to taking out current top-spot, the richest person in the world Jeff Bezos whose net worth is $182.4 billion.
While being the third-richest person in the world, Musk famously doesn’t take a cash salary from Tesla – his complicated compensation plan meaning he won’t receive any payment from the company until it reaches $100 million in market cap.
