Tesla and SpaceX CEO and entrepreneur Elon Musk was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. Time traditionally announces the Person of the Year and puts their photo on the cover of the December issue.

Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal described Elon Musk as "a person with extraordinary influence on life on Earth, and potentially life off earth too."

The Time editors noted that Musk became the richest person in the world in 2021, with his fortune exceeding $300 billion in early November. Currently, his fortune is worth an estimated $265.4 billion. Moreover, his space company SpaceX overtook other American space companies in the space race.

The magazine also mentioned the entrepreneur's interest in climate change, the challenges of artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrencies.

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Soon afterward Musk also became the Person of the Year according to the Financial Times. The newspaper said that thanks to Musk's efforts in the field of electric cars, the largest car manufacturers have also begun to actively invest in the production of more environmentally-friendly electric vehicles.

Earlier in 2020, current US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were chosen as Time's Person of the Year. In 2019, Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg was selected as Person of the Year.