Elon Musk becomes 4th richest person in the world after historic stock surge
Tesla shares have surged more than 300% this year
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Elon Musk has become the fourth-richest person in the world, amassing a fortune worth nearly $85 billion.
The mark was crossed on Monday after shares of Tesla Inc. surged more than 11%, boosting the affable tech exec's net worth by nearly $8 billion, according to Bloomberg.
At a net worth of $84.8 billion, Musk trails only Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Bloomberg's Billionaires Index.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 342.03 | -3.97 | -1.15% |
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Much of Musk's net worth is tied up in his electric car maker Tesla, which has seen its shares surge more than 300% this year.
The car marker has remained profitable in recent quarters despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Tesla sold more than 179,000 cars during the first half of 2020, outpacing sales for its nearest three competitors in the electric car market combined, according to Electrek.
Earlier this month, Tesla announced a five-for-one stock split, effective Aug. 31, to make its shares more accessible to a wider range of investors.
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However, Musk is also the CEO and co-founder of SpaceX, which made history last month, sending the first NASA astronauts to space from American soil in nearly a decade.
According to CNBC, SpaceX is in the process of raising nearly $1 billion in funding, which would value the space exploration and defense company at $44 billion.
Shares of Tesla were higher on Tuesday, gaining 2.3% to trade at $1,878.66.
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Fox Business' Thomas Barrabi contributed to this story.