Elon Musk to become third richest person as wealth jumps $US15bn

This week, Elon Musk has tested positive to COVID-19, seen his Space X company launch astronauts into space and watched as Tesla was named for inclusion in the S&P 500.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk talks to media as he arrives to visit the construction site of the future US electric car giant Tesla. Picture: AFP

Elon Musk is never far from the headlines and this week has been no exception. So far the billionaire has tested positive for COVID-19, seen his SpaceX rocket company launch four astronauts into space and watched as Tesla, the electric car company in which he has a 21 per cent stake, was named for inclusion in the S&P 500 index of America’s top companies.

The last of that list sent Tesla shares into orbit on Monday in late trading, briefly jumping 15 per cent to $US464.88 and giving it a market value above $US387 billion, making it bigger than General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler.

The latest surge in the Tesla share price, up by about 500 per cent this year, is estimated to have increased Mr Musk’s fortune by more than $US15 billion to $US117.5 billion. That places him third on the league table of the world’s richest people, ahead of Mark Zuckerberg, 36, the co-founder and chief executive of Facebook with $US106 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Elon Musk will jump to third on the league table of the world’s richest people, ahead of Mark Zuckerberg. Picture: AFP

The only people in the world richer than the Tesla boss are Jeff Bezos, 56, the founder and chief executive of Amazon with a $US184 billion fortune, and Bill Gates, 65, Microsoft’s principal founder, with $US129 billion.

Tesla, which will enter the S&P 500 on December 21, was started in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, two American engineers. Mr Musk, its chief executive, led a round of investment in February 2004, with $US6.5 million of his own funds out of a total fundraising of $US7.5 million.

Mr Musk, 49, started SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company based in Hawthorne, California, in 2002 with the goal of reducing rocket launch costs to enable the colonisation of Mars.

On Tuesday Tesla shares rose by 8.2 per cent, or $US33.52, to $US441.61, making it worth $US 418.6 billion. Mr Musk’s wealth has jumped more than $US90 billion this year, the biggest gain on the Bloomberg ranking of the 500 richest people.

If the Tesla share price continues to rise, it puts him in line for a bonus deal that could pay him a record $US55.8 billion. To trigger the maximum payout, the billionaire has to build Tesla into a $US650 billion company by 2028.

The Times