Copyright dailystar
Elon Musk had a pretty casual Monday back on this day in 2021 – you know, just adding a cool $25billion to his fortune in a single day. The record-breaking gain came after Tesla’s stock skyrocketed when rental car giant Hertz announced plans to buy 100,000 electric vehicles, mostly Model 3s, for its global fleet. The move sent investors into overdrive and pushed Tesla’s market value past the $1trillion mark for the first time. By the end of that Monday, Musk’s net worth had soared to an eye-watering $255.2 billion, according to Forbes estimates. That made him not just the richest person on Earth, but arguably the richest individual in modern history – wealthier than anyone Forbes has ever tracked. For context: Musk was worth more than both Google cofounder Larry Page and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg combined. Tesla shares jumped 12.6% that day, closing at $1,024.86 each, after hovering around $910 the previous Friday. It was the kind of stock rally most CEOs only dream about – but for Musk, it was another day in the stratosphere. His 23% stake in Tesla (discounted for loans) remains the biggest source of his wealth, a company he helped shape nearly two decades ago when electric cars were still seen as futuristic toys. The Hertz deal itself was a big one: 100,000 Teslas, worth around $4.2 billion, marking the largest-ever single order for electric vehicles. The move signalled a major shift in the car rental industry and showed how mainstream EVs had become. Hertz, fresh out of bankruptcy at the time, said customers would be able to rent Teslas in major US and European cities starting that November. Investors clearly approved – Hertz stock jumped more than 9% on the same day. Meanwhile, Musk’s other venture, SpaceX, was quietly gearing up for the first orbital flight of its Starship rocket. The private space company had recently been valued at $74billion after a funding round, though shares were reportedly trading at around $100billion on secondary markets. Not bad for a side project. Musk had already passed Jeff Bezos a month earlier to claim the title of world’s richest person – and he wasn’t shy about it. He even tweeted a silver medal emoji at Bezos, a tongue-in-cheek nod to their billionaire space race. Bezos’ net worth, meanwhile, dipped by about $1billion that same day, widening the gap between the two titans to over $60billion. In just two years, Musk’s fortune had ballooned from $19.9billion to more than 10 times that amount. While the pandemic widened wealth inequality, it also supercharged fortunes at the top – and no one benefited more spectacularly than Elon Musk. Now, today, Musk has become the first person to see their personal fortune exceed $500billion (£370.9billion). The milestone was passed following a surge in the valuation of Tesla and his wider portfolio of technology ventures.
