SOUTH African-born businessman, Elon Musk, is the richest man in the world.
This was announced by The Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, a daily ranking of the world’s richest people that put Elon back in first place with $221 billion.
Elon, who is also chairman of Twitter, was born in Pretoria. He later moved to Canada before settling in America. His documentary, The Elon Musk Show, is now streaming on Showmax.
The documentary was made by 72 Films, who also produced films on Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump. It kicks off in 1995 when Elon was a geeky young man battling to make his fortune, while sleeping on the floor of his office and washing at the local YMCA.
Mark Raphael, the joint CEO of 72 Films described the documentary as "three-part series about the richest man in the world. About how he came from South Africa to America and took some amazing risks. By and large, they all paid off."
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He said Elon's status has grown over the last four or five years.
"I think it’s a good time to tell his story. He's now the richest man in the world, but he’s also trying to go to Mars. It's relevant. His life in some way or another will touch a lot of the populace," said Mark.
"We wanted to tell a truthful, honest account of his life in a thoughtful, intelligent, entertaining and revealing way. We wanted to feel as though we were as close to his story as possible, through people that were in the room with Elon."
Mark said that they interviewed the people who worked with him from day one at Tesla, SpaceX, Zip2, or PayPal.
"We also interviewed his mother, his father and his ex-wives, and the people who have known him for a long time, so it feels like a very intimate account of his life," he said.
"I don’t think people know how close he came to going bankrupt several times. And yet, Elon has a lot of people that have supported him through thick and thin. In terms of the company he keeps, he's got some very good friends. I suppose that says something about him. There's a lot of loyalty out there for him. But like anyone who has done what he’s done, he’s made a few enemies, so you have to look at it in the round."
Speaking about Elon's dream of going to Mars, he said: "Elon Musk is a central figure trying to make the human race a multi-planetary species. I think he probably will get to Mars. I think it's good to be informed and to have a view on that. I think it's good to know what you think about the richest man that’s ever lived. It's useful to have a take on him, to understand him, his motivations and how he's become so rich. I think it’s very important."
