World's richest man

Elon Musk becomes world's richest person as wealth tops $185bn

The Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur was pushed into the top slot after Tesla's share price increased on Thursday.

He takes the top spot from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who had held it since 2017.

Musk's electric car company Tesla has surged in value this year, and hit a market value of $700bn (NZ$964bn) for the first time on Wednesday.

That makes the car company worth more than Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, GM and Ford combined.

Musk reacted to the news in signature style, replying to a Twitter user sharing the news with the remark "how strange".

Jeff Bezos and wife MacKenzie divorce after 25 years of marriage

Jeff Bezos, 54, is the world's richest person, with a fortune that has soared to more than US$160 billion thanks to his stake in Amazon, which again became Wall Street's most valuable company this week, surpassing Microsoft.

The couple decided to divorce after a long period of "loving exploration" and trial separation, and expect to continue as partners in joint ventures and projects, according to the statement.