According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, saw his net worth increase by $33.5 billion on Thursday, October 24th. This surge in wealth was driven by a roughly 20% jump in the stock price of Tesla, the company he owns, marking the largest single-day gain in over a decade.
On Thursday, Musk further widened his lead on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index rankings. The 53-year-old entrepreneur now has a fortune of $270.3 billion, surpassing Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, by $61 billion.
In comparison, Forbes reported a slightly smaller increase in Musk’s wealth. According to the magazine, Musk added $26 billion to his net worth on Thursday, bringing his total wealth to approximately $269 billion, with a lead of over $50 billion ahead of his friend Larry Ellison, a former Tesla board member. Ellison, who remains the largest shareholder of Oracle, is ranked fourth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, holding the third position.
Musk’s sudden wealth surge was a result of Tesla’s stock price skyrocketing by approximately 20% on Thursday, marking its best performance since 2013. This boost came following the company’s earnings call on Wednesday night, where it reported an 8% year-on-year revenue growth for the third quarter, with an adjusted earnings per share of 72 cents – surpassing analysts’ average expectation of 58 cents. The profit margin also rose from the expected 17.9% to 19.8%.
During the earnings call, Musk also predicted a 20-30% increase in Tesla’s vehicle deliveries by 2025. Thursday’s surge in stock price helped offset Tesla’s losses earlier in the year and pushed the stock to a 3% increase year-to-date by 2024.
Previously, the world’s largest electric car manufacturer had struggled with four consecutive quarters of poor profitability amid slowing consumer demand. About three-quarters of Musk’s wealth comes from Tesla stock and options, with the rest stemming from substantial stakes in his space exploration company SpaceX, the social media platform X, and the artificial intelligence startup XAI.
Musk’s wealth could potentially see further growth depending on the outcome of a lawsuit filed against the generous compensation package he received from Tesla shareholders in 2018.