Elon Musk Getting Richer Faster Than Any Other Billionaire This Year

Tesla Inc. TSLA founder and chief executive officer Elon Musk is getting richer faster than any other billionaire in 2020 so far.

What Happened

Musk has added $13.5 billion to his net worth this year by Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The second-in-line Jeff Bezos, the Amazon.com Inc. AMZN CEO, has added $9.05 billion.

The 48-year old started the year at number 35 on the list, according to Bloomberg, and is now the 22nd richest person in the world with a net worth of $41 billion.

Bezos is the world's richest person, with a net worth three times higher than Musk at $124 billion, followed by Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates at $116 billion.

Bernard Arnault, the CEO of French luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, has lost $7.85 billion of his wealth year-till-date, the most of any billionaire on Bloomberg's list.

Why It Matters

Musk's primary sources of wealth are his stock holdings in Tesla and the other company he founded, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, aka SpaceX.

The surge in Musk's wealth comes as Tesla's stock continues to surge persistently since the electric vehicles maker beat analyst estimates in its third-quarter earnings back in October.

The Tesla stock is up a whopping 86% year-till-date at press time.

The stock added 19.89% on Monday alone as Argus analyst Bill Selesky raised its price target from $556 to $808, and its battery supplier Panasonic Corporation PCRFY reported a third-quarter profit.

Price Action

Tesla's shares traded 1.79% lower at $766 in the after-hours market after closing the regular session 19.89% higher at $780.

Photo Credit: Public domain photo via Wikimedia.