Ten Richest Men in the world (2022)
2. Jeff Bezos
Age: 58
Residence: Washington
Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon (AMZN)
Net Worth: $144 billion
Amazon Ownership Stake: 10% ($120 billion)
Other Assets: Blue Origin ($9.15 billion private asset), The Washington Post ($250 million private asset), and $14.9 billion in cash
Amazon.com was established by Jeff Bezos in a Seattle garage in 1994, not long after he left the illustrious hedge fund D.E. Shaw.
When he first suggested opening an online bookstore, his former employer David E. Shaw was uninterested.
Despite having its roots in the book industry, Amazon.com has evolved into a one-stop shop for just about anything and is arguably the biggest retailer in the world. Some of Amazon’s unexpected expansions, like the company’s purchase of Whole Foods in 2017 and entry into the pharmacy industry that same year, are indicative of the company’s pattern of ongoing diversification.
Prior to transferring 4 percent to his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott as part of the divorce proceedings, Bezos owned up to 16 percent of Amazon in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s increased demand for online shopping, Amazon’s share price increased by 76% in 2020. Bezos became the company’s executive chair after leaving his position as the e-commerce behemoth’s CEO on July 5, 2021.
Bezos first made Amazon publicly available in 1997, and in 1999, he overtook Bill Gates as the first person to have a net worth of $100 billion.
The aerospace firm Blue Origin, The Washington Post (which he acquired in 2013), and the 10,000-year clock, also referred to as the Long Now, are among Bezos’ other endeavors.
Blue Origin’s first successful crewed flight was carried out on July 20, 2021, by Bezos, his brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen. They reached an altitude of more than 66 miles before making a safe landing. In the same month, Bezos’ wealth reached its peak of $211 billion.
1. Elon Musk
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Age: 50
Residence: Texas
Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
Net Worth: $224 billion
Tesla’s Ownership Stake: 16% ($107 billion)
Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($40.3 billion private asset), The Boring Company ($3.4 billion private asset), Twitter ($2.9 billion public asset), $11.3 billion in cash.
Elon Musk was raised in South Africa, went to college in Canada, then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a bachelor’s in both economics and physics. Musk was born in South Africa. Musk postponed attending Stanford University’s graduate physics program two days after enrolling in order to launch Zip2, one of the first online navigation services. He used some of the money from this startup as investment to build X.com, an online payment platform that was later sold to eBay Inc. (EBAY) and transformed into PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL).
Musk’s current position as CEO of the electric vehicle company was made possible by his role as a major investor in Tesla Motors (now Tesla) in 2004.
In addition to its line of electric cars, Tesla manufactures energy storage systems, automotive accessories, and solar power systems thanks to its 2016 acquisition of SolarCity.
Musk is also the founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a company that makes rockets for space launches.
Musk’s Tesla stock increased 740 percent in 2020, helping him climb the wealth ladder. In December 2020, Tesla became the largest company added to the S&P 500. Musk attained the title of richest man in the world in January 2021, a position he has retained ever since.
In a Nov. 6, 2021, tweet, Musk asked his Twitter audience whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, framing the issue as a response to criticism of unrealized capital gains as a means of avoiding taxes.
He proceeded to sell shares worth $16.4 billion over the remainder of 2021. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, has cited a media report that Musk paid no income tax for 2018 to argue for the adoption of a wealth tax. “And if you opened your eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year, “Musk responded on Twitter.
Musk’s advantage in the rankings of the world’s richest people has widened as a result of the 2021 surge in Tesla share prices and unpublicized transactions that increased the reported valuation of SpaceX. In November 2021, his net worth increased to a peak of $340 billion.
Musk launched a campaign to take Twitter private in April 2022, which resulted in a $44 billion buyout. Musk intends to invest $21 billion of his own money in the transaction. Before the buyout announcement, Musk sold 9.6 million Tesla shares worth about $8.5 billion.
