Elon Musk has become the first person to reach a net worth of $500bn, bringing the Tesla chief executive halfway to trillionaire status.
Musk’s wealth temporarily crossed the half-trillion mark on Wednesday before retreating to $499bn, according to the Forbes billionaires list.
Musk owns 12% of Tesla, which is worth more than $1.5tn, and his wealth has been boosted this year by surge in the electric carmaker’s share price.
It has started to make me question my sanity. Every week there is a headline like “Tesla sales collapse in Europe and Asia” or “Huge class action suit filed against Tesla” and the result is always the same: TSLA stock goes up.