Tesla chief Elon Musk's fortune soars by most since before Twitter purchase

By Diana Li and Jack Witzig
 

Elon Musk’s net worth is soaring after it plunged to the lowest level in almost a year.
 

In the past five days, the world’s third-richest person has gained $37.3 billion in net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That’s his largest weekly gain since March 2022, just before he agreed to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion in one of the biggest leveraged buyout deals in history. Since then, his fortune has tumbled just as often as it has increased after a breathtaking ascent in 2020 and 2021. 

Tesla Inc. shares rallied the most in more than three years Monday following reports that it received in-principle approval from Chinese officials to deploy its driver-assistance system in the world’s biggest auto market. That followed news last week that the electric-vehicle maker plans to introduce a less-expensive car as soon as this year, which eased concerns about disappointing earnings.

Musk added $18.5 billion to his fortune on Monday alone, the 13th-largest market-driven daily gain for any billionaire on Bloomberg’s wealth index and Musk’s seventh-biggest. With a net worth of $201.5 billion, he’s close to overtaking second-place Jeff Bezos, after he surpassed Mark Zuckerberg last week. 

Musk, 52, derives his wealth primarily from his stake in Tesla, as well as his holdings in Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and X, formerly known as Twitter. 

Prior to the recent rally, Tesla spent much of the year as the worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 Index amid price cuts and a surprise drop in vehicle deliveries. The value of X, meanwhile, has slumped about 73% since Musk bought it two years ago, according to a March valuation from the Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund, which invested alongside him. 

One bright spot for Musk’s wealth has been SpaceX, which gained more than 40% in value between mid-2022 and the end of 2023. 

The billionaire is also facing pressure domestically. Tesla has asked shareholders to vote again on Musk’s $56 billion compensation package that was voided by a Delware court early this year. If it’s rejected, Musk risks losing stock options that make up nearly a quarter of his net worth, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index.

The US Supreme Court also rejected an appeal Monday from Musk in his “Twitter sitter” case, leaving intact his agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to have an in-house lawyer pre-approve his social media posts about Tesla.