With his valuations passing the $180 billion mark, Space X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is quite close to overtaking Amazon boss Jeff Bezos as the world’s richest man.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Bezos's net worth currently stands at $187 billion and he has held the title of the world's richest man since October 2017.

Musk's net worth soared by more than $150 billion over the past year whereas Bezos' wealth grew by approximately $70 billion during the same period.

The 49-year-old Tesla CEO overtook Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the world's second-richest person in 2020.

Musk's rise has been fuelled by an unprecedented increase in Tesla's share price which surged 743 percent last year on the back of consistent profits. The company has reported five consecutive quarterly profits. Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles in 2020, above Wall Street estimates of 481,261 vehicles.

Musk has a 20 percent stake in the company.

The world's 500 richest people added a record $1.8 trillion to their combined net worth last year despite the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:Jan 7, 2021 4:06 PM IST