Elon Musk is once again the world’s richest person

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Sorry, Bezos, you’re the second-richest person on the planet again. That’s because Elon Musk is yet again in the top spot, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The reason for the change? Tesla’s climbing stock price, which closed at $843.03 per share on Friday.

Now Musk’s net worth is estimated at $236 billion, an increase of $66.5 billion in the last year, thanks to the fortunes of Tesla and its crazy stock price. Amazon’s ex-CEO Jeff Bezos is now worth $197 billion, a paltry $6.81 billion increase in the last year. Musk was briefly in the top spot earlier this year, also from returns on his stake in Tesla.

As to what Musk plans to spend his worldly wealth on, well it’s going to be spent on getting humans to Mars if this Twitter exchange is to be believed.

That might be attainable since Musk’s side hustle is SpaceX, the second-most valuable privately held company in the world, and one of the frontrunners for space travel.

It doesn’t seem that Elon Musk’s top ranking is going away anytime soon. Tesla keeps going from strength to strength, with third-quarter earnings expected on Wednesday that should show healthy numbers.

READ MORE: Elon Musk is thinking about quitting his jobs and becoming an influencer

With EV sales still only 3 percent of all vehicle sales, there’s room for Tesla to grow as countries start to push for EV adoption.

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Editors’ Recommendations:

• Tesla’s laser windshield wipers bring Elon Musk one step closer to supervillain status
• Tesla owners in Texas can now get car insurance based on how well they drive
• GM is coming directly for Tesla with its new hand-free driving system
• Michigan is building the nation’s first road that can wirelessly charge electric vehicles

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.