Elon Musk becomes world's richest person

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony of Tesla Shanghai gigafactory in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 7, 2019. (Xinhua/Ding Ting)

Elon Musk was worth more than 188 billion U.S. dollars on Thursday, 1.5 billion dollars more than Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, who held the world's wealthiest person position since 2017, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has become the world's richest person.

Musk was worth more than 188 billion U.S. dollars on Thursday morning, 1.5 billion dollars more than Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon, who held the world's wealthiest person position since 2017, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

Musk reached the pinnacle thanks to Tesla's share price that has skyrocketed nearly 830 percent since March 2020. Over the past year, his net worth soared by more than 150 billion U.S. dollars.

Musk holds about 20 percent equity in Tesla. He also has some 42 billion dollars in vested stock options, according to SEC filings.

Tesla shares climbed up 7.94 percent on Thursday, reaching the price of 816 U.S. dollars at the closing.

Musk tweeted "How strange," after reports of his new status came out, adding "Well, back to work."