Musk regains title of richest person after Tesla surge

‘Tesla will soon release its Master Plan outlining the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth’

ELON MUSK, the chief executive of Tesla, has regained his position as the world’s richest person after shares in the electric vehicle maker soared.

Shares in Tesla surged 5.5pc yesterday, lifting Mr Musk’s net worth to $187.1bn (£155.1bn), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He reclaims the top spot from French luxury magnate Bernard Arnault, whose net worth is now valued at $185.3bn.

Mr Arnault, chief executive of LVMH, was renamed the world’s richest man in December after Mr Musk’s net worth slipped as investors lost confidence in Tesla and grew concerned at his focus on Twitter, which he bought for $44bn last October.

Mr Musk, who remains the largest shareholder of Tesla despite selling off billions to finance the Twitter deal, became the first person to lose $200bn from their fortune after shares in the US manufacturer plunged 65pc last year.

In December, he pledged not to sell Tesla shares for about two years. However, Mr Arnault’s lead over the Tesla boss narrowed after shares in the vehicle company almost doubled since the start of the year, increasing 92pc.

Shares rallied after Tesla revealed better than expected quarterly results last month, buoyed by record delivery of electric vehicles during the last three months 2022. Tesla also aggressively slashed EV prices in an attempt to reverse a slowdown in sales, sparking a price war among rival car makers.

Recent updates also include plans to invest $3.6bn boosting the Nevada gigafactory’s battery and truck manufacturing operations, alongside its decision to move some production from Tesla’s Berlin-brandenburg gigafactory to the US because of tax incentives. Mr Musk’s 13pc stake in Tesla is his biggest source of wealth. He also has shares in rocket company Spacex and Twitter.

This month, Mr Musk announced that he would soon present the third version of Tesla’s “Master Plan” which would outline “the path to a fully sustainable energy future for Earth”.

Previous versions of the plan, announced in 2006 and 2016, have focused on taking electric cars mainstream, autonomous technology and home energy storage.

Tesla is expected to unveil these long-term expansion plans during its 2023 investor day tomorrow.