MUSK NOW THE FOURTHRICHEST IN THE WORLD

ELON MUSK’S financial upswing shows no signs of slowing. The outspoken entrepreneur is now the world’s fourthrichest person after Tesla shares surged 11 percent on Monday, closing at a record high and boosting Musk’s net worth by $7.8 billion (R136bn). The rise vaulted the Tesla co-founder past French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault, the wealthiest non-American on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk’s $84.8bn fortune puts him within $15bn of Mark Zuckerberg, number 3 on the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. Monday’s Tesla rally is only the latest triumph for the billionaire who only two years ago was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and had to resign as chairperson of the electric-car maker over rogue tweets. Tesla shares are up 339 percent this year, fuelled by growing anticipation that the company will be included in the S&P 500 Index. Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, is poised to potentially pad his fortune further. The company is close to finalising $2bn in new funding that would increase its equity valuation to $46bn. Musk’s fortune has grown by $57.2bn this year, the second-biggest increase on the index after Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’s. The world’s richest man has accumulated $73bn this year and is now worth $188bn. Tech shares have been on a tear this year as the Covid-19 pandemic drove more people online, lifting the fortunes of the companies’ founders and putting the industry under increased scrutiny. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg became a centibillionaire this month. | Bloomberg