Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s net worth has ballooned to $233 billion, zooming past Jeff Bezos and making him the richest man in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk commented on surpassing Bezos, saying: “I’m sending a giant statue of the digit ‘2′ to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal.”
Bloomberg reports that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has topped the Bloomberg Billionaires Index after adding almost $11 billion to his wealth, beating Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for the top spot as the world’s richest man.
Musk’s net worth now sits at $223 billion following a deal with SpaceX investors to value the company in excess of $100 billion. This added an additional $10.6 billion to Musk’s net worth thank to his ownership in the company. The new valuation of SpaceX comes just over a year since the company completed its first crewed test flight of astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a net worth of around $191.6 billion. After being informed of his new ranking, Musk told Forbes in an email: “I’m sending a giant statue of the digit ‘2′ to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal.”
Musk’s companies appear to show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. Recently, Musk discussed plans for the expansion of Tesla facilities throughout China. During a pre-recorded question-and-answer style stream at the World Internet Conference, hosted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised China and discussed his company’s plans to expand its investments in the country.
Musk has been highly complimentary of China in recent months. During another pre-recorded stream at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress, Musk said that Chinese automakers were the “most competitive in the world.” At the World Internet Conference recently, Musk called China a “global leader in digitization.”
Musk also stated: “My frank observation is that China spends a lot of resources and efforts applying the latest digital technologies in different industries, including the automobile industry, making China a global leader in digitalization.” Musk added: “Tesla will continue to expand our investment and R&D efforts in China.”
However, Tesla is still facing a number of issues. Breitbart News recently reported that Tesla is making owners who sign up for the company’s “Full Self-Driving” software beta test sign a non-disclosure agreement and discouraging them from sharing video clips that show the system causing cars to drive erratically on social media.
A copy of the NDA was obtained by VICE News, the document states that “there are a lot of people that want Tesla to fail; Don’t let them mischaracterize your feedback and media posts.” Tesla also states in the NDA that drivers taking part in the beta should “share on social media responsibly and selectively” and “consider sharing fewer videos, and only the ones that you think are interesting or worthy of being shared.”
Tesla has begun expanding access to its “Full Self-Driving” software despite the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) currently investigating the company’s less-advanced Autopilot driver assistance system that is currently available in the majority of its vehicles.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com