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Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk became the richest man on record last year, moving past Amazon’s founder Jeff Bezos. However, in a new interview, Musk said he believes Russian leader Vladimir Putin is wealthier than we all think,

Musk was talking to Mathias Döpfner, the CEO of German publishing firm Axel Springer. In response to a question on how it feels to be the richest man in the world, musk replied, “I do think that Putin is significantly richer than me.”

Putin’s wealth remains a mystery to the outside world, with one testimony from financier Bill Browder in 2017 claiming that the Russian leader has $200 billion in assets stashed away.

Musk, who has criticised Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, continued to say, “I think the American government has done more than people may realise. But it is just not been very public. But it is important to do something serious. We cannot let Putin take over Ukraine. This is crazy.”

Musk’s company SpaceX had earlier launched their Starlink program in Ukraine, to help the locals connect to the Internet after Russian armed forces had damaged the physical network infrastructure in parts of the country.

Tesla to suspends production at Shanghai factory

Tesla has been forced to close down their Shanghai factor for four days after the city announced stringent Covid rules on Sunday night. The coastal Chinese city had announced a two-phase shutdown to test the population this week.

Tesla had initially attempted to call in workers on Sunday to create a closed-loop environment this week to keep the factory going through the week. However, when it realised that it didn’t have the provisions for the workers, they sent the employees home and announced the closure.

Tesla benefits from new fuel emission penalties in the USA

On the other side of the world, Tesla woke up to good news. The American government has announced a sharp increase in penalties for auto manufacturers whose vehicles don’t meet fuel efficiency standards. This applies to all vehicles made in 2019 and later.

According to Reuters, the relevant government body said the decision “increases the accountability of manufacturers for violating the nation’s fuel economy standards” and the penalty increase “incentivizes manufacturers to make fuel economy improvements.”

This move comes amidst the increasing price of crude oil as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With the world attempting to sanction Russian exports, the price of crude oil has skyrocketed from a little more than $90 to around $109 globally.

As an electric car manufacturer, this move favours Tesla and other electric vehicle producers in America.