Time Magazine Names Their 2021 Person Of The Year

Billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been named as Time Magazine's 2021 Person of the Year.

"Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too," Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthalwrote in his explanation for Musk. "In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world's richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society."

Musk's net worth exceeded $300 billion in 2021, giving him the title of richest person in the history of the world.

“Excluding sovereigns,” Musk joked via Time, noting that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is likely richer “I can’t invade countries and stuff.”

Along with SpaceX becoming a global commercial leader in spaceflight, Tesla, Inc. has become a trillion-dollar company and the entrepreneur has a notably passionate fanbase among his 66.2 million Twitter followers.

Time began its annual tradition by initially naming "Man of the Year" in 1927 and has since rebranded to not only consider one person, but also groups, movements or ideas that made a resounding impact for the year.

In 2020, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris -- the president-elect and vice president-elect at the time -- shared the distinction of Person of the Year following their recent election victory.

Sometimes, however, the annual choice isn't regarded as an honor, as individuals can be chosen based on negative influence, such as Adolf Hitler being named Man of the Year in 1938.

Time also began introducing additional categories to its annual year-end magazine in 2019, which this year included pop star Olivia Rodrigo being named Artist of the Year and Olympian Simone Biles picked as Athlete of the Year for 2021.

The scientists behind the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine -- specifically Katalin Kariko, Barney Graham, Kizzmekia Corbett and Drew Weissman -- were named as Heroes of the Year by the popular magazine.