Tesla Inc. Chief Executive, Elon Musk fortune has soared by $11.8bn (£8.9bn), placing the billionaire on track to overtake Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to become the world’s third-richest person.
This comes after Tesla, stock closed at $408.09, surged about 14% at 6:20 p.m. in New York, lifting Musk’s net worth to $117.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His wealth has jumped $90 billion this year, the biggest gain on the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people
Tesla shares were marked 9.8% higher in early trading Tuesday to change hands at $448.00 each, a move that would vault the group’s market value just below $425 billion.
That places Musk, 49, third on the league table of the world’s richest people in front of Zuckerberg, 36, with $106bn, after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with a $184bn fortune and Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $129bn.
Musk, who owns 20% of Tesla’s shares and founded rocket company SpaceX, has experienced an increase of about $90bn in his fortune so far this year.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index revealed. The index for now shows Musk in fourth place with $102bn but it does not yet include the 12% surge that took place in extended trading after the market closed on Monday.
