Elon Musk's paper wealth went supersonic this year as demand for his electric vehicles rose worldwide. His wealth will go even higher Tuesday with his company's shares set to rise another 1.6% on the Nasdaq at the open, according to premarket trading data.
The latest launch in Tesla's stock price has made Musk the world's second-richest person - overtaking Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
The liftoff in Tesla's stock price Monday increased Musk's net worth by around $7.2 billion to $127.9 billion. Tesla's stock price rose from a Friday close of $489.61 a share to a Monday opening of $518.53 per share. The stock closed slightly higher at $521.85 per share. It is expected to change hands at $530.00 Tuesday morning.
Since the start of the year, Musk's net worth has increased by around $100 billion. This is the highest jump in net worth on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. In January, Musk ranked 35th only among its list of the 500 richest people in the world.
The increase in Musk's net worth can be mostly attributed to the success of his electric manufacturing company and the increased interest in tech stocks. Tesla's total market valuation is now close to $500 billion, making it one of the most valued automotive companies. Eight years ago the company was valued at $4 billion.
Around 75% of Musk's net worth is tied to his Tesla stock holdings while the rest are in stocks in other companies, including his space transport company SpaceX.
Musk's rise is the second time in the Bloomberg Billionaire Index's eight-year history that Gates has lost his rank. Gates held the top spot for several years before he was overtaken by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in 2017. Since then, Bezos has been in top spot. Bezos is currently worth an estimated $182 billion on paper, according to the index.
Gates is currently worth an estimated $127.7 billion. He chose to donate to charities - including his own Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 2006, Gates is estimated to have given more than $27 billion to his foundation.
