Elon Musk Is Now Seventh-Richest Billionaire On The Planet
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Elon Musk is now the seventh-wealthiest billionaire on the planet, with his vast fortune having risen by more than $6 billion yesterday, July 10.
This significant boost to his bank account came about after Tesla’s stock skyrocketed by 10.8% to a record $1,544 per share, with its market value standing at $286.5 billion.
Musk – who is also the primary shareholder for SpaceX, and for commercial tunnelling business The Boring Company – owns 20.8% of Tesla’s stock, with his stake worth being just shy of $60 billion.
These figures are according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the daily wealth of the 500 most affluent people on the planet.
As this index shows, Musk’s fortune has now surpassed that of ‘Oracle of Omaha’ Warren Buffet, the famed business tycoon and philanthropist who ranks among the most successful investors in history.
Buffett’s wealth dropped this week after he gave almost $3 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to five charitable organisations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, a nonprofit named in honour of his late wife.
As reported by The New York Times, this was the 89-year-old’s 15th annual donation since 2006, during which time he has donated approximately $37 billion worth of Berkshire stock to worthy causes.
Alongside Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Buffet founded non-profit organisation Giving Pledge, which encourages other wealthy business professionals to donate at least half of their fortune over the course of their lifetime.
Musk, 49, is know to have signed the Giving Pledge in 2012, with the tech entrepreneur having begun making charitable donations about one decade earlier.
As reported by CNN Business, Tesla’s stock has risen by more than 500% in the past 12 months, exceeding the value of nearly every business in the S&P 500 Index.
It’s believed Tesla, known to be the world’s most valuable auto company, could be on the brink of joining this prestigious index, which would put shares in even greater demand.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos currently holds the top position on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, however a pay package approved by Tesla shareholders in 2018 suggests Musk could well leapfrog past him at some point.
This plan meant that shareholders wouldn’t pay Musk a salary or any cash bonuses, instead laying out a plan that may eventually give him 20.3 million stock options over a 10-year period, in 12 equal blocks of 1.7 million options, as long as Tesla achieves a series of goals.
In May, as reported by CNN Business, shareholders granted Musk stock options worth $1.8 billion today, and they’re about to do the exact same again, in the space of just two months.
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Topics: News, Billionaire, Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Now, Tesla
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Bloomberg and 2 othersBloomberg
The New York Times
CNN Business
