Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos Are Both Insanely Rich — Who Is Richer?

When people think about some of the richest men in the world, several people come to mind like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. But in recent years, Bezos and Musk have widened the divide and made it clear that the title for the richest man is a battle solely between the two of them. Is Musk richer than Bezos?

Tesla and Amazon are two of the most successful companies in the world. In 2021, CNBC reported that Amazon's revenue was $837,330.25 per minute in the first quarter of the year, while Tesla's revenue was $80,162.04 per minute. Numbers such as these mean that the leaders of the companies have impressive net worths to match.

Bezos makes a base salary from his role at Amazon, but it's much lower than you would expect for one of the world's richest men. According to The Independent, Bezos' salary is $81,840 and hasn't changed since 1998. But his additional compensation is what boosts his net worth. Reportedly, his net worth increased by $75 billion, which breaks down to $205 million per day.

Based on real-time updates from Forbes, Bezos currently has a net worth of $178 billion, which is higher than Gates, Buffett, and Bernard Arnault, the chief executive officer of French conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy. Where does Musk fall on this list? Ahead of everyone.

Just last year it was reported that Musk makes a tremendous amount of money in a day. His net worth has jumped significantly over the past few years. In 2020, his worth was an estimated $27.2 billion, by 2021 it reached $185 billion. Musk added nearly $158 billion to his net worth between 2020 and 2021, which breaks down to $432 million per day. Musk doesn't make a base salary from his role at Tesla. Instead, his wealth mainly comes from stock options.

According to Forbes, in 2021, Musk became the third person to reach a fortune of $200 billion and edged out Bezos in the process. In celebration of his new status, Musk spoke of Bezos and said, "I'm sending a giant statue of the digit '2' to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal." As of this year, it was revealed that Musk is richer than Bezos by $100 billion. 100 billion dollars is quite the gap, but that doesn't mean it can't be closed.

Considering that Bezos makes an insane amount of money just like Musk, the ranking between the two of them can always change swiftly. But for now, Musk seems to be making himself comfortable in the top spot. His recent investments in social media app Twitter may put him even further in the lead. Whether or not Bezos will catch up remains to be seen.