Elon Musk overtakes Jeff Bezos as the world's richest person thanks to Tesla's surging stock

• Elon Musk surpassed Jeff Bezos as the richest person on the planet on Thursday.
• "How strange," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO $4. "Well, back to work."
• The Tesla chief has added more than $150 billion to his fortune in the past year, after shares in his electric-vehicle company rocketed up 740% in 2020.
• Musk's wealth derives from his roughly 20% Tesla stake and 48% SpaceX stake, as well as 57 million exercisable Tesla stock options, Bloomberg says.
• $4.

Elon Musk overtook Jeff Bezos as the world's wealthiest person for the first time on Thursday, based on calculations using the $4.

"How strange," the Tesla and SpaceX CEO $4 in response to the news. "Well, back to work."

Tesla shares closed 8% higher at $816 on Thursday, boosting the net worth of its CEO to over $186 billion. Meanwhile, Amazon's shares closed less than 1% higher, lifting Bezos' fortune to about $185 billion.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed Musk and Bezos' fortunes as $181 billion and $184 billion respectively as of Wednesday's close.

Read more: $4

Musk's wealth on paper reflects his roughly 20% stake in Tesla and 48% stake in SpaceX, as well as 57 million vested Tesla stock options, Bloomberg says. Bezos' net worth largely derives from his 11% stake in Amazon.

The Tesla CEO's fortune has ballooned by more than $150 billion in the past year, Bloomberg said, after the electric-vehicle company's stock price rocketed up 740% in 2020.

Read more: $4

Musk and Bezos have left other billionaires in their rearview mirrors. The world's third-richest person, Bill Gates, was worth $132 billion as of Wednesday's close.