After the current rise in Tesla’s share price, Elon Musk has leapfrogged Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to become the third richest man in the world.
After being selected to join the prestigious S&P 500 index of the largest listed companies in the US the electric car manufacturer operated by Musk soared again in value.
The share price soared to $460 (£347) by as much as 12%, valuing Tesla at over £320 billion.
The rally raised the personal fortune of Musk up by £ 6 billion, bringing it to £ 82 billion.
This pushes the 49-year-old tycoon, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, to third position in the league table of the richest people in the world, above Zuckerberg’s £ 80 billion fortune.
That means only Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is now ahead of him in the pecking order, with £ 139 billion in his name, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates with £ 97 billion.
Musk has had an amazing year, even by his standards, with his fortune expanding by almost £ 70 billion.
The South African-born billionaire holds a 20% stake in Tesla, which so far this year has seen its share price increase more than fivefold.
A bonus contract, however, could further swell his coffers, pushing him on the rich list above Gates. In a pay system connected to the share price, he’s the line for a record bonus of £ 41.5 billion.
Musk needs to develop Tesla into a £ 490 billion firm by 2028 to qualify for the full payout.
As it stands, despite having a fraction of the number of vehicles churned out by more developed manufacturers such as General Motors, Volkswagen, and Toyota, Tesla is now the most valuable automaker in the world.
Tesla becomes the most valuable automotive company in the world and manages to hit new heights even despite a pandemic
The company, which began as a problem-plagued upstart just over 15 years ago, Tesla is now the most valuable automotive company in the world – overtaking industry giants like Toyota and Volkswagen.
This milestone comes after a year of steady growth, which only struck a speed bump earlier this year because of the negative impact COVID-19 had on new car sales. Despite these headwinds, the valuation of Tesla has jumped since last year’s time by an impressive 375 percent.
Another of Musk’s businesses reached a major milestone this week with Tesla scheduled to enter the S&P 500 on December 21.
On Monday, after hitching a ride on the Falcon rocket, four astronauts from their space exploration business Space X managed to dock the Crew Dragon capsule at the International Space Station.
Space X fulfilled its first commercial deal with Nasa, the US space agency.
