SPACE-obsessed Tesla boss Elon Musk has overtaken rocket rival Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest man.

Musk, who first made his fortune with PayPal, is worth $219billion — £167billion — according to the latest billionaires’ list from Forbes.

Elon Musk has overtaken rocket rival Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest manCredit: AP

Jeff Bezos has been the richest person in the world for the past four years

It is the first time the South Africa-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 entrepreneur, 50, who dreams of colonising other planets through his SpaceX rocket programme, has topped the list of the world’s super-rich

Amazon founder Bezos, 58, the richest person in the world for the past four years, is now in second place.

He is still worth $171billion (£131billion) and went into space last year in his Blue Origin rocket.

The turnaround comes in the same week as Musk bought a nine per cent stake in Twitter costing more than £2billion.

Yesterday, he joined the board of the social media platform.

Pop star and cosmetics mogul Rihanna, 34, has also joined the ranks of the megawealthy, becoming Barbados’s first billionaire.

She is one of just 327 women who made Forbes’ annual rankings, featuring a total of 2,668 dollar billionaires, down 87 on 2021.

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, 60, is another newcomer to the list.