ELON Musk’s net worth has surpassed US$300 billion for the first time in almost three years, as shares of Tesla soar on bets that his close ties with President-elect Donald Trump will bolster the company.
Musk has added more to his personal fortune since Trump’s win than anyone else tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Tesla’s stock has jumped 28 per cent since Tuesday’s (Nov 5) close, increasing his wealth by US$50 billion to US$313.7 billion.
Trump has openly suggested moves that would benefit Musk’s businesses. He said he would reconsider his plans to slow the move to electric vehicles (EVs) because of the Tesla co-founder’s backing.
Trump also voiced support for SpaceX, which makes up US$82 billion of Musk’s net worth, and its push to reach Mars. And the president-elect has floated the idea of Musk serving in a newly created role in his administration as efficiency czar.
“One of the best strategic bets he ever made was ultimately this bet on Trump,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said Thursday on Bloomberg TV.
“Musk is the big winner in this Trump sweepstakes.”
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Musk inserted himself late into the presidential race, campaigning alongside Trump in the weeks leading up to the election and bankrolling stunts such as a US$1 million daily sweepstakes for voters in battleground states.
He became a part of Trump’s inner circle, spending election night at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
Musk, 53, is the only person to ever have a fortune in excess of US$300 billion, a mark he last reached in January 2022, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index. It is still short of his all-time high of US$340.4 billion in 2021.
Even before the election, Musk’s net worth had been on the rise, with strong Tesla earnings in mid-October adding US$34 billion to his fortune in a day.
Most of Musk’s fortune is tied up in Tesla, the world’s largest electric-vehicle manufacturer, whose prospects depend heavily on the federal government. Musk said during a Tesla earnings call last month that he’d push for a federal approval process for autonomous vehicles – a centrepiece of the company’s future strategy – if selected for a role in the Trump administration.
Trump initially said he would roll back EV initiatives in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in July, but changed his position a month later.
“I’m for electric cars,” Trump said at a rally in Atlanta. “I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly.” BLOOMBERG
