With $188.5 billion, Musk is now the richest person on the planet

Elon Mask the outspoken entrepreneur behind Tesla Inc and SpaceX is now the richest person on the planet. Musk past Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, a ranking of the world's 500 wealthiest people.

The milestone caps an extraordinary 12 months for Musk. Over the past year his net worth soared by more than $150 billion in possibly the fastest bout of wealth creation in history. Tesla's share price, which surged 743% last year on the back of consistent profits, inclusion in the S&P 500 Index and enthusiasm from Wall Street and retail investors alike.