NEW YORK, Nov 24 — Tesla Inc was set to breach US$500 billion (RM2 trillion) in market value today, as its shares extended a meteoric rally that has seen the stock gain more than six times this year.
Shares of the electric-car maker have risen nearly 28 per cent since the S&P Dow Jones Indices confirmed they would add the company to Wall Street’s benchmark index from December 21.
Its shares were up 3.5 per cent at US$540.53 in premarket trading and will have to open above US$527.48 to hit the US$500 billion mark.
The recent rally has also boosted Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s net worth by US$7.2 billion to US$127.9 billion, helping him go past Bill Gates to become the world’s second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Tesla has become by far the world’s most valuable automaker, despite a production that is a fraction of Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG or General Motors Co.
Shares of other electric vehicle (EV) makers have also risen in the last few months as President-elect Joe Biden made boosting EVs a top priority during his campaign. — Reuters
