Elon Musk is on track to become the richest person in the world after a surge in Tesla shares raised its net worth to a whopping $ 184.5 billion.
The share price of the car cup rose 4.9 percent on Wednesday afternoon, just two days after the first trading session of the year ended with a gain of 3.4 percent.
The boost means that Musk Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is now generating only $ 3 billion in terms of net worth, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Bezos has held the title of the richest person in the world since 2017 and is currently worth $ 187 billion.
This comes after Musk overtook Bill Gates as the second richest person in November, a major leap for the entrepreneur starting in the top 35 in 2020.
Musk has managed to increase its wealth by more than $ 146 billion over the past twelve months, despite the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tesla reported a series of profitable quarters during 2020 and joined the S&P 500, which established the business as one of the world’s most valuable businesses.
Elon Musk is on the verge of surpassing Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world, after a surge in Tesla shares increased its net worth to a whopping $ 184.5 billion.
Tesla shares jumped 4.9 percent on Wednesday afternoon, bringing Musk’s net worth to $ 184.5 billion
On Saturday, Tesla Inc. reported better delivery than 2020 of vehicles, driven by a gradual increase in the adoption of electric vehicles, but missed its ambitious goal for the full year in a penalty year for the global automotive industry.
According to Refinitiv, the company delivered 499,550 vehicles by 2020, above Wall Street’s estimates of 481,261 vehicles – but 450 units are shy of CEO Elon Musk’s target of half a million vehicles.
Musk tweeted that he was “proud of the Tesla team for achieving this important milestone.”
“At the beginning of Tesla, I thought we (optimistically) had a 10% chance of surviving at all,” he said.
Musk’s wealth has increased over the past twelve months. He now follows Bezos’s with only $ 3 billion
On Twitter, congratulations flowed in from supporters and bullish investors, praising the electric vehicle manufacturer for its stellar year, which defied wider trends in the automotive industry from declining sales, quarterly losses and global supply chain outages.
However, some online investor accounts have criticized Tesla for saying it has taken its lead.
Tesla said at the beginning of 2020 that it would comfortably exceed ‘500,000 units’ for the year, a target it left unchanged despite the pandemic.
Zachary Kirkhorn, chief financial officer, said in October that Tesla “intends to achieve (its) original leadership in 2020.”
Tesla recently reported that the company’s delivery for 2020 exceeded expectations, with 499,550 vehicles delivered
Musk took to Twitter earlier this week to address the achievement and celebrate Tesla’s continued existence
Tesla has pinned hopes on new markets such as Europe and Asia, with competition increasing at home as ex-carmakers double their investments in the booming EV space.
Tesla’s delivery is supported by its new plant in Shanghai, the only plant currently producing vehicles outside of California.
According to the carmaker, production of Model Y has begun in Shanghai, with deliveries expected soon.
Bloomberg reports that Model Y will cost 339,900 yuan ($ 52,074) in China when sales begin in the country.
Meanwhile, the Model Y Performance car costs 369,900 yuan ($ 56,620) in China.
In the United States, Model Y production will take place in Fremont, California, and delivery of the vehicle will begin in March 2020.
According to Palo Alto, California, Tesla delivered 180,570 vehicles during the fourth quarter, a quarterly record for the electric car manufacturer, which delivered the estimate of 163,628 vehicles.
The good sales news for Tesla lowers a busy 2020 for Musk.
In May, his SpaceX company launched its first manned flight and became the first private company to bring anyone around the orbit.
He was also embroiled in controversy over his views on pronouns, which drew criticism from many, including his partner, Grimes, who gave birth to their son in May.