Datastream
Elon Musk is the World’s Richest Person in 2021
The Briefing
- Just six days into the new year, Elon Musk became the world’s richest person in 2021
- His personal fortune is $188 billion, up 548% from one year ago
- Tesla shares are up 1,030% since the market bottom in 2020
- Elon Musk’s rocketing net worth may be the fastest accumulation of wealth in history
Elon Musk is the World’s Richest Person in 2021
2021 has been touted as a year of change.
And as far the pecking order of global wealth goes, the new year has already delivered. Just six days in, Elon Musk had already lapped Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person in 2021 with a personal net worth of $188 billion.
How did this happen so fast?
Since the stock market bottom in March 2020, Tesla shares have skyrocketed by 1,030% to $816 per share. Elon Musk happens to own about 241 million of those shares, putting his wealth accumulation into overdrive in a short period of time.
Pedal to the Medal
The boom in wealth has been so prolific for Musk that he’s left other billionaires in the dust.
One year ago, he wouldn’t have cracked the top 20 list—but with a surge in wealth of 548% since a year ago, he now sits at the top of the heat as the world’s richest person.
Rank | Billionaire | Wealth (Jan 6, 2021) | One-Year Change |
---|---|---|---|
#1 | 🇺🇸 Elon Musk | $188 billion | 548% |
#2 | 🇺🇸 Jeff Bezos | $184 billion | 57% |
#3 | 🇺🇸 Bill Gates | $132 billion | 45% |
#4 | 🇫🇷 Bernard Arnault | $114 billion | 8% |
#5 | 🇺🇸 Mark Zuckerberg | $100 billion | 23% |
#6 | 🇨🇳 Zhong Shanshan | $93 billion | n/a |
#7 | 🇺🇸 Warren Buffett | $87 billion | -2% |
#8 | 🇺🇸 Larry Page | $82 billion | 22% |
#9 | 🇺🇸 Sergey Brin | $79 billion | 22% |
#10 | 🇺🇸 Larry Ellison | $79 billion | 32% |
Is this a temporary bump, or will Elon Musk stay atop the world’s richest person rankings for the rest of 2021?
Really, it all depends on Tesla’s stock price performance—and those that have bet against Tesla in recent years don’t have a great track record to lean on.
That said, price swings can happen in either direction, and if Tesla’s stock finds itself coming down to Earth, it’s possible that Musk’s ranking in the billionaire pecking order could tumble down with it.
>> Liked this? See how Elon Musk built his empire
Where does this data come from?
Source: Bloomberg Billionaire Index
Details: Jan 6th, 2021 data
Notes: Net worth figures on the tracker get updated frequently, so any up-to-date data may not match that of this article.
Economy
Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve
Public trust in the Federal Reserve chair has hit its lowest point in 20 years. Get the details in this infographic.

The Briefing
- Gallup conducts an annual poll to gauge the U.S. public’s trust in the Federal Reserve
- After rising during the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust has fallen to a 20-year low
Charted: Public Trust in the Federal Reserve
Each year, Gallup conducts a survey of American adults on various economic topics, including the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve.
More specifically, respondents are asked how much confidence they have in the current Fed chairman to do or recommend the right thing for the U.S. economy. We’ve visualized these results from 2001 to 2023 to see how confidence levels have changed over time.
Methodology and Results
The data used in this infographic is also listed in the table below. Percentages reflect the share of respondents that have either a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence.
Year | Fed chair | % Great deal or Fair amount |
---|---|---|
2023 | Jerome Powell | 36% |
2022 | Jerome Powell | 43% |
2021 | Jerome Powell | 55% |
2020 | Jerome Powell | 58% |
2019 | Jerome Powell | 50% |
2018 | Jerome Powell | 45% |
2017 | Janet Yellen | 45% |
2016 | Janet Yellen | 38% |
2015 | Janet Yellen | 42% |
2014 | Janet Yellen | 37% |
2013 | Ben Bernanke | 42% |
2012 | Ben Bernanke | 39% |
2011 | Ben Bernanke | 41% |
2010 | Ben Bernanke | 44% |
2009 | Ben Bernanke | 49% |
2008 | Ben Bernanke | 47% |
2007 | Ben Bernanke | 50% |
2006 | Ben Bernanke | 41% |
2005 | Alan Greenspan | 56% |
2004 | Alan Greenspan | 61% |
2003 | Alan Greenspan | 65% |
2002 | Alan Greenspan | 69% |
2001 | Alan Greenspan | 74% |
Data for 2023 collected April 3-25, with this statement put to respondents: “Please tell me how much confidence you have [in the Fed chair] to recommend the right thing for the economy.”
We can see that trust in the Federal Reserve has fluctuated significantly in recent years.
For example, under Alan Greenspan, trust was initially high due to the relative stability of the economy. The burst of the dotcom bubble—which some attribute to Greenspan’s easy credit policies—resulted in a sharp decline.
On the flip side, public confidence spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was likely due to Jerome Powell’s decisive actions to provide support to the U.S. economy throughout the crisis.
Measures implemented by the Fed include bringing interest rates to near zero, quantitative easing (buying government bonds with newly-printed money), and emergency lending programs to businesses.
Confidence Now on the Decline
After peaking at 58%, those with a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the Fed chair have tumbled to 36%, the lowest number in 20 years.
This is likely due to Powell’s hard stance on fighting post-pandemic inflation, which has involved raising interest rates at an incredible speed. While these rate hikes may be necessary, they also have many adverse effects:
- Negative impact on the stock market
- Increases the burden for those with variable-rate debts
- Makes mortgages and home buying less affordable
Higher rates have also prompted many U.S. tech companies to shrink their workforces, and have been a factor in the regional banking crisis, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Where does this data come from?
Source: Gallup (2023)
Data Notes: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 3-25, 2023, with a random sample of –1,013—adults, ages 18+, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on this sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. See source for details.
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