Elon Musk surpasses Jeff Bezos as world’s richest person as Tesla stock outpaces all S&P 500 rivals
- Tesla stock jumps in new year while Amazon slips, extending its superb run in 2020 as the best performer among S&P 500 Index members
- Musk has added US$165 billion to his fortune in the past year, probably the fastest bout of wealth creation in history
A statement that seemed outlandish one year ago became plausible, then almost inevitable as Tesla’s share price climbed higher and higher in 2020. On Thursday, it finally happened.
The electric-automaker’s shares surged 7.9 per cent, boosting Musk past Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 wealthiest people. Musk is worth US$194.8 billion , or US$9.5 billion more than Bezos, whose Blue Origin is a rival to Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in the private space race.
Fuelling his rise was an unprecedented rally in Tesla’s share price, which surged 743 per cent last year on the back of consistent profits, inclusion in the S&P 500 Index and enthusiasm from Wall Street and retail investors alike. The shares have gained more than 23,900 per cent since its 2010 initial public offering, including a 5-for-1 stock split last year.
