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'Richest example of a massive shift in our society': Elon Musk is Time magazine's Person of the Year

Brett Molina, USA TODAY
·1 min read
The cover of Time magazine's Person of the Year issue featuring billionaire Elon Musk.
The cover of Time magazine's Person of the Year issue featuring billionaire Elon Musk.

Elon Musk can add another title to his résumé: Time's Person of the Year.

The magazine announced Monday the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, not to mention the world's richest person, received their top honor.

"Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too," wrote Time Editor-in-Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal. "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society."

As of Sunday, Musk is far and away the world's richest person, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, with a total net worth of $266 billion.

The index shows Musk's value surged $110 billion in the past year. The second-richest person is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of $198 billion.

His net worth is expected to skyrocket thanks to ventures with his aerospace company, SpaceX, and electric car maker Tesla. In October, investment firm Morgan Stanley projected Musk could become the world's first trillionaire.

The entrepreneur has also been very vocal on Twitter. In October, Musk took a jab at Bezos for his second-place spot among the world's richest people. In a separate tweet, he also said he worries the falling birthrate worldwide could threaten human civilization.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elon Musk is Time's Person of the Year: Why Tesla CEO was picked

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