Elon Musk’s net worth hit Ksh. 25.3 trillion ($216 billion) to become world’s richest man according to Forbes. Musk owns 21 percent of Tesla and in early April a regulatory filing revealed that he has purchased 9.2 percent of Twitter.
He first appeared on the Forbes List in 2012 when his net worth was estimated to be Ksh. 230 billion ($ 2billlion). Two years ago he ranked 31st in the world on the List and his stock shares in his electric vehicle company stood at Ksh.8.3 trillion ($72.24). He has been on the Forbes list for a decade and he is estimated to be Ksh. 7.84 trillion ($68bn) richer than just one year ago.
Last year, after a funding round, SpaceX, Musk’s rocket company, was valued at Ksh.8.5 billion ($74 billion). Twitter’s stock platform gained 35 percent following Musk’s announcement of owning 9.2 percent of the social media platform.
Musk was ahead of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who fell to the second richest person for the first time in four years having lost ($6 billion) and now currently stands at a net worth of Ksh.19.7 trillion ($171 billion).
The list also showed that the number of billionaires in the world has dropped to 2,668 this year mainly due to the covid pandemic, war and plunging stock markets.
“The tumultuous stock market contributed to sharp declines in the fortunes of many of the world’s richest” said Kerry Dolan, Forbes assistant managing editor of wealth. “Still, more than 1,000 billionaires got wealthier over the past year.
This year’s billionaires are worth $12.7 5trillion down from last year’s $13.1 trillion.
Other billionaires who topped the list were French fashion Bernard Arnault who was named the world’s third richest person. Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were fourth and fifth.
