New Delhi: Time Magazine on Monday named Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world's richest person, the 'Person of the Year 2021'.
"The richest man in the world does not own a house and has recently been selling off his fortune," Time magazine said describing Elon Musk. According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk is the wealthiest person, with an estimated net worth of $266 billion.
Elon Musk took over the title from US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who received the title last year.
"He tosses satellites into orbit and harnesses the sun; he drives a car he created that uses no gas and barely needs a driver. With a flick of his finger, the stock market soars or swoons. An army of devotees hangs on his every utterance. He dreams of Mars as he bestrides Earth, square-jawed and indomitable. Lately, Elon Musk also likes to live-tweet his poops," Time magazine was quoted as saying.
"He's a player in robots and solar, cryptocurrency and climate, brain-computer implants to stave off the menace of artificial intelligence and underground tunnels to move people and freight at super speeds," the magazine said.
'Richest Man In The World Doesn't Own A House'
In the official announcement, Time has noted that the richest man in the world does not own a house. Musk fulfilled his pledge to "own no house" earlier this month when he sold his California property for $30 million on December 2.
Musk's Silicon Valley mansion was sold for $7.5 million less than the initial $37.5 million asking price, according to the Daily Mail. He struggled to sell his 16,000-square-foot Hillsborough mansion, listing it three times before finding a buyer.
"His startup rocket company, SpaceX, has leapfrogged Boeing and others to own America’s spacefaring future. His car company, Tesla, controls two-thirds of the multibillion-dollar electric-vehicle market it pioneered and is valued at a cool $1 trillion. That has made Musk, with a net worth of more than $250 billion, the richest private citizen in history, at least on paper," Time magazine said.
Vaccine Scientists Named Heroes Of The Year 2021
Time Magazine also announced on Monday that vaccine scientists were "Heroes of The Year 2021". The cover image features Katalin Kariko, Barney Graham, Kizzmekia Corbett and Drew Weissman -- four scientists who helped develop multiple vaccines in record time amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dr Kariko and Dr Weissman's breakthrough with mRNA technology were behind both Pfizer and Moderna's Covid-19 vaccines.
"There were times in their careers when, deep in the work that would ultimately rescue humanity, Kizzmekia Corbett, Barney Graham, Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman felt as though the problems they faced were ones they alone cared about solving. But exposing the inner workings of how viruses survive and thrive is what made the Covid-19 vaccines possible," the magazine stated.