South African-born inventor and engineer, Elon Musk has been ranked as the 21st most powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine. As of Thursday, Musk’s net worth stood at $11.5bn, while he is also ranked as the 94th richest person in the world. The list released on Wednesday, Forbes’ annually ranks the World’s Most Powerful People, identifying the most influential people.
Topping the most powerful list was Russian President, Vladimir Putin, followed by US president-elect Donald Trump and German chancellor,Angela Merkel, taking third place. The Pretoria-born Musk managed to top Apple CEO, Tim Cook; media magnate Rupert Murdoch and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.Musk’s fortune and success stems from co-founding online payment company PayPal.
According to the Forbes, “Musk is trying to redefine transportation on earth and in space.” He is also CEO of electric-vehicle manufacturer, Tesla Motors and the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), the rocket manufacturer hoping to take send humans to Mars.
Trump announced on Wednesday that Musk would join both IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Uber Technologies’ Travis Kalanick Rometty on his advisory panel, the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum.