Musk vs. Bezos: Who's Going to Be the World's First Trillionaire?

It’s hard to believe that less than five years ago, the world was celebrating Jeff Bezos as the first person in the world to accumulate a net worth of over $100 billion. Now, the race for the title of the world’s first trillionaire is on.

Most experts agree it’s setting up to be a race between the powerful Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon whose recent divorce depleted some of his wealth, and the quickly emerging billionaire and Tesla founder, Elon Musk.

Oddly enough, Musk didn’t secure a spot on the Forbes’ Top 10 Billionaires list until 2020. Yet, since this time, there has been an ongoing fight for the top spot between him and Bezos. According to the latest Forbes list, however, one of these men is pulling ahead, by about $100 billion.

While Bezos may have started 2021 as the richest man in the world, it only took Musk six days to supersede Bezos’ wealth and earn the position as the world’s wealthiest man. That’s not to say that Musk didn’t see a lot of ups and downs during 2021, but when his beloved company, Tesla, was able to seal the deal with Hertz for 100,000 new cars, the company, along with Musk’s wealth soared to new heights.

Today, Musk’s net worth stands at $292 billion, or nearly $100 billion more than Bezos' net worth of $195 billion. While Musk’s stock in Tesla accounts for more than $200 billion of his overall wealth, it’s his second company, SpaceX, that may have the power to push him closer to the trillionaire title. As a privately held company, in which Musk maintains nearly 50%, SpaceX has great potential for immense growth, especially if it continued to have success in its space travel endeavors.

While it's hard to foretell the future, it appears as of now, Musk has taken a significant lead over Bezos and is well on his way to becoming the first trillionaire.