Elon Musk’s wealth soars $39b as Tesla has best day in more than a decade

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, already the world’s richest person, added another $US26 billion ($39.2b) in paper wealth overnight Thursday after his company’s stock had its biggest rally since 2013.

Musk is now worth about $US269b, according to Forbes, putting him more than $US50b ahead of good friend and former Tesla board member Larry Ellison, who remains the largest shareholder in Oracle.

Musk controls close to 13 per cent of Tesla’s outstanding shares, accounting for the bulk of his net worth, though he also owns a big chunk of SpaceX, which is valued on the private markets at over $US200b. Additionally, he’s the controlling owner of X, formerly Twitter, and artificial intelligence startup xAI.

Musk’s wealth could be even higher depending on the outcome of a shareholder lawsuit surrounding his 2018 pay package that’s winding its way through court.

The pop on Thursday followed Tesla’s better-than-expected earnings report late Wednesday and Musk’s comments on the call suggesting that “vehicle growth” will be 20 to 30 per cent next year. Tesla shares soared 22 per cent at the close, their second-biggest gain since the company’s IPO in 2010.

Prior to the earnings announcement, Tesla shares had been slumping and were headed for their worst month since January. But the stock erased its loss for the year and is now up 5 per cent in 2024, compared to the Nasdaq’s 23 per cent gain.

Tesla reported earnings per share of US72¢, topping the average analyst estimate of US58¢. Profit was boosted by $US739m in revenue for environmental regulatory credits and $US326m in revenue from FSD, the company’s Full Self-Driving Supervised system.

Musk spent much of the earnings call touting what he promises will be Tesla’s autonomous future, including a ride-hailing service that he says will open to the public as early as next year in Texas and California. Two weeks earlier, Tesla held its long-awaited robotaxi event, showcasing the concept of its Cybercab.

However, while Alphabet’s Waymo has been operating a commercial driverless service to the public since June, Tesla has consistently missed its own projections for getting a product to market. The company still doesn’t produce or sell cars that are safe to use without a human at the wheel, ready to steer or brake at all times.

And while Musk unveiled both a heavy-duty Semi truck and a Roadster refresh in 2017, the Roadster design is still not finalised, and the company is only in “pilot production” with the Semi.

One topic Musk didn’t address on Wednesday’s call was his campaigning and hefty spending in support of Donald Trump.

Since publicly endorsing Trump shortly after the first assassination attempt on the former president in July, Musk has stepped up his rhetoric, most notably on X, and has contributed tens of millions of dollars to a political action committee that’s supporting the Republican nominee.

Musk has been campaigning in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, which he’s called the “linchpin” in this election. Over the weekend, he said he would randomly award $US1 million a day to registered voters who sign a petition for his pro-Trump PAC in an effort to get his fans in battleground states to the polls.

The US Department of Justice has warned the PAC that Musk’s voter sweepstakes may violate federal election law, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News on Wednesday.

Ahead of the earnings call, many investors had questions about Musk’s political activities.

“Elon Musk has the right to express his political views, but his public activism seems at odds with his responsibility as CEO to protect shareholder value,” an anonymous retail investor wrote on a forum that Tesla uses to solicit investor questions. “How does Tesla address this, and can it confirm Musk’s actions are not harming sales or growth?”

The comment had received 168 upvotes prior to the call. Another question, which had received 527 upvotes, asked if Tesla’s board is doing anything to ensure Musk’s “political engagement doesn’t detract from Tesla’s core mission and protects shareholder value and brand integrity.”

In a post on X earlier this week, Musk wrote, “I think this election is existential to the United States.”

CNBC