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Elon Musk displaces Jeff Bezos as richest person on Earth

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has a net worth of $188.5 billion.

Erin Carson Former Senior Writer
Erin Carson covered internet culture, online dating and the weird ways tech and science are changing your life.
Expertise Erin has been a tech reporter for almost 10 years. Her reporting has taken her from the Johnson Space Center to San Diego Comic-Con's famous Hall H. Credentials
  • She has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
Erin Carson
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Elon Musk is the new richest person on the planet.

Getty Images

Elon Musk has overtaken Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world, Bloomberg reported Thursday. 

Musk, who is CEO of electric car manufacturer Tesla and rocket maker SpaceX , has a net worth of $188.5 billion, which clocks in at about $1.5 billion more than Amazon's Bezos, Bloomberg said, attributing the shift to an increase in the price of Tesla shares.

On Twitter, Musk responded to a tweet about his new standing with two tweets saying "How strange" and "Well, back to work ..."

Musk's been climbing the rankings. In November, he unseated Bill Gates as the second richest person when his net worth hit $128 billion. 

Although Bezos hasn't consistently held onto the title, he claimed the top spot in October 2018 (it also happened briefly in 2017) when his net worth hit $160 billion. Gates had previously held the spot for 24 years. 

Neither Musk nor Bezos responded to a request for comment.

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