Tesla CEO Elon Musk Now 3rd Richest Person On Earth, Net Worth Now $115 Billion

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s net worth has reached $115 billion.

This makes him the third-richest person in the world.  It has also made him become the world’s fifth centibillionaire.

For the year to date, Musk has seen his wealth increase by $87.8 billion. This is due to the dramatic and relentless rise in Tesla share prices. Tesla CEO

• See Also: 13 Things You May Not Know About Tesla

Tesla’s stock price has seen astronomical gains in the last year, and that relentless increase has pushed its CEO’s net worth into a level of wealth enjoyed by almost nobody.

A year ago, Elon Musk was worth a respectable $22.4 billion—but as of market close on August 31, that number had risen to $115 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.

Now a centibillionaire, Musk is one of just five in the world.

With the astronomical rise in Tesla’s stock price, Musk is now worth more than Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg—who sits at a comfortable $111 billion—and is the third-richest person in the world.

Musk still has a good deal of ground to cover before he becomes the actual richest person in the world, as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the current holder of that title, is worth over $200 billion.

• See Also: Tesla Overtakes Toyota To Become World’s Most Valuable Automaker

Bezos’s net worth has seen gains similar to Musk’s over the course of this year, rising just over $87 billion. Bill Gates currently occupies the number-two spot, with a net worth of $125 billion.

Of course, Musk’s net worth is almost as volatile as Tesla’s stock. He owns 21 percent of the company and gets compensated only in stock options, so the company doesn’t actually pay him a salary.

As a result, he makes more money when the stock goes up; he gets compensated as Tesla’s market capitalization, or valuation, reaches predetermined thresholds. It is not a very straightforward system, but one that is fairly common among CEOs of large companies.

• See Also: Man Accidentally Buys 28 Tesla Model 3 Cars Online Worth Over ₦500m