What is a dream run? Ask Elon Musk. As recently as 2018, Tesla was struggling to meet its vehicle production goals and turn a profit. However, while 2020 was a disaster year for most people around the world, Musk would beg to differ.
After years of losses, Tesla has seen five consecutive quarters of profit as sales of its cars perform well despite the pandemic. Thanks to which, Musk's net worth was $181.1 billion on Wednesday, just shy of Bezos, who has held the top spot since October 2017, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk is just $3 billion short of replacing Bezos as the richest individual alive on the planet.
As chief executive officer of SpaceX, Musk is also a rival to Bezos, owner of Blue Origin LLC, in the private space race.
Musk's latest run to wealth is thanks to Tesla's 2.8 per cent stock surge on Wednesday. Over the past year his net worth soared by more than $150 billion in possibly the fastest bout of wealth creation in history. Fueling his rise was an unprecedented rally in Tesla's share price, which surged 743 per cent last year on the back of consistent profits, inclusion in the S&P 500 Index and enthusiasm from Wall Street and retail investors alike.
