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(Bob Daemmrich)
Tesla CEO and recent Texas transplant Elon Musk has surpassed Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to become the wealthiest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
"How strange," the South African entrepreneur tweeted on Thursday in response to the news.
@teslaownersSV How strange— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk)1610033547.0
Musk is now worth $188.5 billion, compared to Bezos' $187 billion, thanks to Tesla's rising stock prices, which have increased nearly 750% since 2019.
As a result, Musk's net worth has skyrocketed over the last year in what Bloomberg called "possibly the fastest bout of wealth creation in history."
Musk, who is also the CEO of SpaceX, Neuralink and the Boring Company, announced last month that he had moved to Texas from California. Austin realtor Cord Shiflet confirmed to Austonia that Musk and his representatives have been touring area properties.
Musk cited his two biggest projects—the forthcoming $1.1 billion Tesla Gigafactory in Southeast Travis County and the Starship prototype that SpaceX is developing in South Tesla—as reasons for the move.
Last year, Musk chafed against COVID-19 regulations in the state of California, where Tesla operates a factory, and threatened to move the company's headquarters.
There is also the issue of taxes.
California has the highest income tax rate of any state in the country. Texas, on the other hand, has none. By relocating, Musk could save potentially billions of dollars in taxes on his Tesla compensation package.
Assuming the five-county Austin metro has a median annual income of $71,576 and a population of 2.23 million people, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, Musk's net worth is greater than the annual income of the entire metro population.
More on Elon Musk:
Elon Musk tells friends he is moving to Texas. Could he land in Austin?
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The long-awaited day is here; Austin FC takes the field with LAFC. (Austonia)
It's matchday! Austin FC—Austin's first major league sport team—kicks off its debut season in Los Angeles today after years in the making. We know how much this means to our beloved city and are taking you along with us as we journey to LA!
Austin FC writer Claire Partain and I are excited to bring you game-day coverage straight from the City of Angels. Check back here for updates, and visit our socials: @austonianews for the latest.
5 p.m: Kickoff!
It's finally here! Claire will be updating Austonia's Twitter account live. And we'll post her game recap after the game. Best of luck Verdes!
4:40 p.m: Excitement radiates back home
Watch parties are in plenty supply back home. Austonia's Laura Figi visited Circle Brewing Co. and found a crowd of excited supporters.
4:20 p.m: Austin FC supporters are in the stadium
Although the Banc of California Stadium is hosting the match at limited capacity, we see some green in the stands ahead of kickoff. Just moments away from the Austin FC's debut!
~3:20 p.m: Austin FC's team bus enters the stadium grounds
With a warm welcome from Los Verdes, Austin FC players were welcomed into the Banc of California Stadium.
~1 p.m: Los Verdes in LA
(Rigo Rodriguez/Los Verdes)
Austin FC supporters are making their presence known in LA, including the Los Verdes group.
Los Verdes members started having match-day fun around the area this morning with brunch. We'll be joining them about an hour before the game outside the stadium to share some of their excitement. We'll post immediately to Austonia's Instagram.
11:45 a.m: We landed!
View from hotel room where we're staying; the stadium digital sign can be seen in the right corner. (Sonia Garcia/Austonia)
Switching over to pacific time, we're here and it's almost like no time went by. It's 9:45 a.m. here.
We've been in contact with Los Verdes, an Austin FC supporter group, who is also here in LA counting down to kickoff.
8:20 a.m: LA bound
Like many of you, we've been looking forward to this moment for, let's just say, a very long time. Today, we woke up bright and early, headed to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and hopped on a flight to LA.
A gloomy day in Austin with a very quiet airport, we're headed to sunny skies in California.
As we wait for the game to start at 4:30 p.m., check out Claire's preview of the game with a predicted lineup and timeline of the long journey to get here.
