Elon Musk: Man who made most money in US during the pandemic
To give a perspective, his net worth is the 0.488 percent of the GDP of the United States, and 1,517,055 times the median US household income
As the year comes to an end, the economic toll of the coronavirus remains still at large in many parts of the world while the many of the world economies have begun to slowly recover.
However, most of the world's billionaires remained untouched by the Covid-19 induced economic downturn; on the contrary, growing their already-huge fortunes to a record high of $10.2 trillion, reports the Guardian citing a report by Swiss bank UBS.
Billionaire Elon Musk, 49, has made the most money so far this year among the super-rich in the US.
The maverick founder of electric car company Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX, saw his fortune increasing by $76.7 billion to a whopping $104 billion.
Tesla's stock split sent shares surging as much as 12 percent resulted in Musk's bump up the billionaires' index.
To give a perspective, his net worth is the 0.488 percent of the GDP of the United States, and 1,517,055 times the median US household income.
According to the Business Insider, despite his massive accumulation of wealth, Musk has spoken about his disinterest in his own personal fortune.
In May, Musk tweeted that he wanted to sell "almost all" of his physical belongings, and that he would "own no house." Since then, he has reportedly agreed to sell four of his Los Angeles properties, which were listed for a total of $62.5 million, to a luxury real estate developer.
Earlier this year, Musk's girlfriend, the musician Grimes, defended his wealth in an interview with the Rolling Stone magazine, arguing that he reinvests the money into making the world a better place.
Grimes said that Musk puts his fortune "into R&D to make the world better" and "puts every single ounce of his energy in everything he cares about. It's not as if Musk is "buying yachts" with his billions, Grimes said.
Musk doesn't appear to spend as lavishly as other billionaire CEOs, with his LA real estate portfolio appearing to be his biggest personal expenditure. Musk has signed the Giving Pledge, vowing to donate the majority of his wealth in his lifetime or in his will.
The Bloomberg billionaires list states that compared to Musk, the richest man in the US and the world, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos saw his fortune increase by 74.3 billion during the pandemic.
Elon Musk currently ranks third in the global list.
