Elon Musk is the richest person in the world

Elon Musk has become the richest man in the world, surpassing the previous record of Jeff Bezos, According to CNBC. Musk is now valued at over $ 180 billion.

Musk’s growing wealth reflects the skyrocketing Tesla stock. The company’s share price closed at $ 816 on Thursday, up nearly 8 percent for the day. This stock price estimates Tesla at around $ 800 billion – many times more than any other auto company.

CNBC says Musk’s rise to become the world’s richest man is the fastest in history. At the start of 2020, a little over a year ago, Musk was only worth $ 27 billion. At the time, Tesla’s stock was trading for less than $ 100 (amendment to 2020 stock split).

The stock rose to over $ 700 over the course of 2020. Then, in the first week of 2021, it rose to over $ 800.

Big payouts coming

Musk will get richer in the coming years if it is able to increase Tesla’s revenue and profits. Risky but generous Pay package Approved by shareholders in 2018, Musk offers up to 12 stock options bonuses if Tesla reaches certain milestones for evaluating the company, its revenue, and dividends. So far, Mask Qualified For four out of 12 payments.

To earn the first payment, Tesla’s stock had to rise to $ 100 billion, and Tesla had to reach a certain revenue or dividend threshold. Musk became eligible for a second revenue when Tesla reached a value of $ 150 billion – again along with the revenue or profit target. The process continues until the twelfth installment, which Musk qualifies for when Tesla’s market capitalization rises to $ 650 billion and Tesla reaches higher revenue and profit targets.

The revenue and earnings rules are a bit complicated, but for example, Musk would claim all 12 awards if Tesla generates $ 175 billion in revenue and $ 6 billion in profits over one year. Between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2020, Tesla had profits of $ 28 billion and a profit of $ 550 million. So Tesla will need to grow exponentially before Musk gets all that payment.

If he qualifies for these payments, they would add significantly to Musk’s fortune. Each award gives Mask the right to buy 1 percent of Tesla shares at a deeply discounted price. So if Musk had all the remaining eight trophies, they would add tens of billions of dollars to his net worth.

There is little mystery about how Musk would like to use his enormous wealth: he is determined to send humans to Mars. His other company, SpaceX, has been working hard on development Starship, A rocket built to enable interplanetary travel. The Starship is designed to drastically reduce the cost of transporting people and goods into space and between planets – and that would probably be enough so that someone with a net worth of more than $ 200 billion could personally finance a critical program for Mars.