Over the course of 2020, Elon Musk toggled back-and-forth with Jeff Bezos for the title of the world’s richest man. But according to a new report from CNN, the title might be Musk’s to lose moving forward.
Per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the Tesla CEO is $9 billion ahead of Bezos for a total net worth of $202 billion—and he’s only going to get richer. CNN reports that Musk will likely receive three option grants from Tesla this year, each one as big and as fruitful as the grants he received in 2020. Altogether, those three options are worth $18.6 billion.
Last year, the electric vehicle and clean energy company gave Musk four grants to purchase 8.4 million shares in 2020. CNN explains that an option grant is when an employer gives an employee the right “to buy (‘exercise’) a certain number of shares of company stock at a pre-set price.”
The stock options were valued at $6.2 billion at Wednesday’s closing after Musk paid the exercise price. On its own, the total worth of $24.8 billion is more than Musk’s net worth a year ago when Forbes placed him at No. 31 on its billionaires list.
In 2020, Tesla’s stock climbed by 743 percent, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world. After Musk’s accumulative $202 billion, Bezos comes in at No. 2 with $193 billion followed Bill Gates at No. 3 with $136 billion.
So it looks like Musk has the title on lock for now. And if Bitcoin continues to soar, well, you can fuggedaboutit.
