SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for the first time topped the list of the richest people in the world according to Forbes. His wealth has been growing rapidly over the past two years in parallel with the increase in the number of Starlink satellites in orbit.
Forbes named Musk the richest man
The list of the richest people in the world according to Forbes magazine was headed by Elon Musk for the first time. The head of SpaceX and Tesla has been going to the first position in this list for ten years, but he has reached the top only now. This is quite a significant event for the space industry, since for the first time this rating was headed by a person whose main assets are invested in space. The total value of the companies that he owns reaches USD 218 billion.
The previous holder of this title, Jeff Bezos, is also engaged in space projects. For four years in a row, he topped the ranking of the richest people in the world. However, he is primarily the owner of Amazon. And only in the second — Blue Origin.
But the third place in the Forbes list was taken by a person with no connection to space. And not even an American. We are talking about the French billionaire Bernard Arnault and his family. They own Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy.
What put Musk in the top
There can be a lot of discussion about how Elon Musk finally became the richest man on the planet. With a high degree of probability, we can say that it’s not about electric cars. The fantastic growth of capital was definitely connected with space. But with what exactly?
Over the past two years, two of Musk’s space projects have shown growth at once. The first is the Falcon rocket, which launches have been taking place almost weekly lately. The second is the Starlink satellites. Now there are several thousands of them in orbit, and they have provided an exponential increase in the total number of satellites.
It is quite possible that the first place ensured success in both projects. But still, getting to the forefront of Forbes suspiciously coincides with the successful test of Starlink in the conditions of hostilities in Ukraine. This success has raised confidence in the system, the profitability of which has already begun to be doubted, to a hitherto unprecedented height.
According to www.forbes .com
Follow us on Twitter to get the most interesting space news in time
https://twitter.com/ust_magazine
