Billionaires never really have a "bad year", but 2020 and 2021 so far have been particularly amazing years for richest people in the world. The fortunes of the richest people in the world have absolutely surged during the pandemic. Just last month, the wealth of the 10 richest people in the world topped $1.3 trillion for the first time. And no one benefited more in 2020 than Elon Musk.
At the beginning of 2020, Elon Musk's net worth was $28 billion.
Elon Musk Net Worth
Elon's net worth rocketed to $70 billion in July 2020. At that point, roughly $55 billion was attributable to Tesla and $15 billion to SpaceX.
A month later his fortune topped $90 billion for the first time.
In November 2020 his net worth topped $100 billion for the first time.
Elon ended 2020 with a net worth of $170 billion. That's a $142 billion increase over 12 months.
Elon rocketed above Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world for the first time in the first week of January 2021. Elon ended the week of January 8, 2021 with a net worth of $210 billion.
So from trough to peak, 2020 – 2021, Elon's paper wealth increased by $182 billion.
Tesla stock has waned slightly since early January. As of this writing, Elon Musk is back to being the second-richest person in the world with a net worth $184 billion.
Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images
Musk relocated from California to Texas last year. In parting he slammed California's "complacency" as the largest economy in the U.S. and the fifth-largest in the world:
"If a team has been winning for too long they do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled, and then they don't win the championship anymore. California's been winning for a long time. And I think they're taking them for granted a little bit."
In other Musk news, he's scheduled to host "Saturday Night Live" on May 8, 2021, with musical guest Miley Cyrus. Several SNL cast members were upset and confused by the announcement because of Elon's history of controversies and enormous personal wealth.
As a subtle protest, after hearing the announcement cast member Aidy Bryant shared a screenshot of a tweet by Bernie Sanders which said:
"The 50 wealthiest people in America today own more wealth than the bottom half of our people. Let me repeat that because it is almost too absurd to believe: the 50 wealthiest people in this country own more wealth than some 165 MILLION Americans. That is a moral obscenity."
