Tesla’s market cap hits $ 500 billion for the first time

Tesla topped the market cap by $ 500 billion on Tuesday after the markets opened and its share price topped $ 527.48 per share.

Tesla shares were trading at $ 540.40, up more than 3%, when markets opened.

The company has been on a tear this year as its share price has more than quintupled. While the brand is largely symbolic, it underscores CEO Elon Musk’s growth spurt. Tesla became the first US automaker to trade at $ 100 billion in January.

In October, Tesla reported its fifth straight quarter of profit on third-quarter revenue of $ 8.77 billion. The company also announced earlier in the month that it delivered 139,300 vehicles in the third quarter, a new record for the automaker.

Tesla is expected to join the S&P 500 ahead of trading on Monday, December 21, a move that pushed stocks higher earlier this month as fund managers with funds that track the S&P 500 will have to buy the stocks for their money. wallets. Morgan Stanley also upgraded Tesla to a buy-equivalent overweight rating last week, the first time in years since the company gave the stock a buy rating.

This week’s stock rally also pushed Musk to overtake Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates as the second richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the richest 500 people in the world. Musk’s net worth grew by more than $ 100 billion in 2020, marking the largest increase among those on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. In January, Musk placed 35th on the list. He now follows Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

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