Musk sending Bezos ‘giant statue’ of the number 2 after overtaking him as world’s richest man

Musk is the third person ever to gather a $200 billion+ fortune

Entrepreneur and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has once again surpassed retired Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in becoming the world's richest person - and he's not afraid to let his space billionaire rival know how happy he is about it. After it was revealed on Monday (September 27) that Musk had become the third person in history to acquire a fortune that exceeds $200 billion, Musk sent Forbes an email saying he was going to send former-first-spot holder Bezos a little something to remind him of his place on the world's wealthiest list. "I’m sending a giant statue of the digit ‘2’ to Jeffrey B., along with a silver medal," the Tesla CEO jokingly told the outlet, tongue firmly in cheek. The jibe was the latest in a series of playful prods made by Musk and aimed at Bezos - a pair who continually seem to surpass and leap-frog each other for the coveted title of 'world's fattest wallet'. August 2020 saw Bezos become the first person ever to have a worth greater than $200 billion before Musk caught up in January 2021 following a boom in Tesla shares. Since then, the pair have passed the title back-and-forth throughout the year alongside the occasional appearance by chief of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, Bernard Arnault. However their rivalry extends beyond dosh. Back in April 2019, Musk labelled Bezos a "copycat" on Twitter (even going so far as to use a cat emoji) after Amazon revealed plans to launch internet-beaming satellites that rivalled those of SpaceX - and earlier this year, Bezos's own rocket company, Blue Origin, protested NASA's decision to dish out a $2.9 billion contract to Musk's space endeavour to help him land people on the moon. While the pair have hogged first and second place on this most elite of lists for a long while now, Musk is currently on top - for the time being at least - with an estimated wealth of $200.7 billion. Meanwhile, Bezos is just behind with a bank balance of $192.5 billion. So remember, if you ever see either of them at the pub - they can definitely cover a round. Related links:

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