Tesla Chief Executive, Elon Musk has overtaken Microsoft founder, Bill Gates to become the world’s second richest man according to the Bloomberg rich list as Tesla’s share price continues to soar.
The electric car company’s value has risen following the announcement that it would join the S&P 500 index, and is currently valued at $521.49 (£390.20) a share.
Mr Musk, 49, is now worth more than $128 billion (£95bn) as he owns 20% of all of the company’s shares, which has risen by more than 675% since 25 November last year, when they were valued at $67.27 (£50.33) each.
The billionaire started this year in 37th position on the rich list. Last week he overtook Facebook founder and Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg in third position.
The overhauling of Bill Gates, who is also worth $128bn, marks only the second time the Microsoft founder has dropped out of the top two on the Bloomberg billionaires index, although Mr Gates could possibly be ranked higher if he did not persistently donate billions of his personal wealth to charity.
Amazon founder and Chief Executive, Jeff Bezos remains at the top of the Bloomberg rich list, with an estimated net worth of $182bn (£136bn).
Elon Musk is a South African-born American entrepreneur who has claimed he is working to revolutionize transportation both on Earth, through electric car maker Tesla – and in space, via rocket producer SpaceX. He cofounded the electronic-payment firm PayPal and formed SpaceX, maker of launch vehicles and spacecraft.
In 2004, he became one of the major funders of Tesla Motors –later renamed Tesla — an electric car company founded by entrepreneurs Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Tesla introduced its first car, the Roadster, which could travel 245 miles (394 km) on a single charge in 2016.
Unlike most previous electric vehicles, which Musk thought were “stodgy and uninteresting”, it was a sports car that could go from 0 to 60 miles (97 km) per hour in less than four seconds. In 2010, the company’s initial public offering raised about $226 million.
Tesla is currently the most valuable car company in the world by share price, with a market value of just over $494bn (£370bn).
The automotive company also recorded by far its best quarterly profit in the third quarter with a net income of $874 million excluding special items, up 156% from 2019 and nearly double its second quarter profit.
It produces fewer vehicles than all of its major rivals, with just 500,000 expected in 2020. Toyota in comparison has an annual production of 10 million.
