Elon Mask, Tesla founder and the world’s wealthiest man, started this year better off. He added $32.6 billion to his net worth to bring his fortune up to $304.2 billion.
Musk’s new fortune saw him surpass the $300 billion mark he temporarily reached in November. This made him the first to achieve this milestone.
Forbes claims that SpaceX’s founder SpaceX, an controversial billionaire who has mastered social media and is well-known for his social-media skills, remains at the top of the rich world list heading into 2019.
Bernard Arnault (CEO of LVMH), is second, $103.6 billion ahead Musk. Forbes reported that Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon and was previously CEO.
South Africans’ growing wealth can again be attributed to Tesla’s skyrocketing stock price.
Elon Mask, Tesla founder, was the world’s wealthiest man, and he started the year with $32.6 billion more in his net worth. This brings his fortune up to $304.2 billion.
The electric car manufacturer announced on Sunday that it has delivered over 936,000 vehicles in 2021. Analysts had predicted this, and also said the company had recall 475,000 cars made between 2014-2021.
Forbes stated that Tesla shares rose more than 13% by the close of the markets, and the company’s market capisation once again topped $1 trillion after falling below this level last month.
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and was named Time Magazine’s 2021 Persona of the Year, owns approximately 15.6 percent.
He continued to trade shares and ended the year with 3 million shares unloaded on the open stock to pay taxes on approximately 5.7 million of his stock options.
Musk responded to questions from billionaires, including Musk, in December by tweeting that he will pay $11 Billion in taxes for 2021.
True, this would put him among the most significant individual tax payers ever in America’s history. However, it is only 0.0036% of his wealth.
Musk’s new fortune has taken his net worth to $300 billion, surpassing the mark he reached briefly in November. After being named Time Magazine’s 2021 Person Of The Year (pictured), Musk has seen a surge in his wealth.
The Tesla share sale totaled 15.7million shares, or $16 billion after tax.
Musk’s fortune increased by more than $200 Billion between 2020 and 2021. Musk’s net worth increased by $116 billion in 2021.
Forbes stated that this is Forbes’ largest one-year gain since it began to track the wealth of wealthy individuals.
Musk could be the next to get a huge windfall when Tesla releases its fourth quarter earnings. The world’s wealthiest man will be even more rich if Tesla meets its valuation and operational targets.
Musk’s 2021 year was a very eventful one. He hosted Saturday Night Live and broke up with his girlfriend Grimes. Also, Tesla’s self-coronation in the title of ‘Technoking’.
Musk caused a lot of controversy last month when he sold many billions in Tesla stock. This was allegedly due to a Twitter poll.
Musk’s increasing wealth can be attributed again to Tesla’s stock market explosion. Tesla shipped more than 930,000 vehicles in 2017, a record that is 87 percent higher than its 2020 deliveries. Photo: Tesla factory in China. File photo
In truth, the mandatory taxes that he paid for stock options expiring in August were responsible at least part of stock sales.
In November 2016, he sold $16.4 trillion worth of shares.
Musk had in September set up an arrangement for stock sales concerning options that expire next year. Tesla filed on Tuesday to confirm the completion of this program.
Musk claimed last week that he will be finished selling shares when his programmed sales are over. This means that the stock market is closed.
Reports on Tuesday showed that the last trades included exercise of an option to purchase 1.6 million shares, and then selling 934.090 shares to cover taxes.
Musk sold approximately 10 percent of his Tesla stake in late 2013, or 15.7 Million shares.
In 2012, his options were granted to him for the purchase of nearly 23 million shares at $6.24 per share. This is a small fraction of Tesla’s share prices, which reached $1069.33 on Thursday night, in the last trading session.
Pictured: Musk, age 24, at his computer in 1995. Musk’s fortune has increased by more than $200B in 2021 and 2020. Musk’s net worth increased by $116 billion in 2021.
Tesla shares are down from record heights reached just two days before Musk’s famous Twitter poll. However, they still have the potential to finish the year at 54 percent above January 1.
This week, it came under fire from the public after it opened a showroom for customers in Xinjiang.
This move was criticized by U.S. trade and rights groups. It is the latest foreign company to be caught in tensions over the region of far-western China.
Xinjiang, which has been a major point of contention between China and Western governments, has seen more than a million Uyghurs, and other Muslim minorities, being held in detention camps.
China rejected allegations of forced labour and other abuses in China, stating that camps provide vocational training. Companies should also respect the policies.
On Friday, the U.S.-based electric car manufacturer announced that the Urumqi showroom would open in Xinjiang’s capital city, Urumqi. The post stated that the showroom will open in Xinjiang on the final day of 2021.
The largest U.S. Muslim advocacy group, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), criticized the decision on Tuesday and said that Tesla was supporting genocide.
The United States has labelled Chinaâs treatment of ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang as genocide. Over the matter, the United States and some other countries have planned a diplomatic boycott against the Beijing Winter Olympics.
‘Elon Musk must close Teslaâs Xinjiang showroom,’ Council on American-Islamic Relations said on its official Twitter account referring to Tesla’s founder.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing, a U.S. trade organization, also criticised the Alliance.
Tesla has yet to respond to my request for comment. Tesla has a Shanghai factory and plans to increase production due to rising sales in China.
Tensions between China and the West over Xinjiang have ensnared a number of foreign companies in recent months. They are trying to find a balance with China’s market power and China’s supply base.
In July, Swedish fashion retailer H&M reported a 23% drop in local currency sales in China for its March-May quarter after it was hit by a consumer boycott in March for stating publicly that it did not source products from Xinjiang.
Intel, the U.S. chipmaker, was faced with similar requests last month after it told its suppliers to stop sourcing products and labour from Xinjiang. This prompted Intel to apologize for ‘the inconvenience caused to our respectable Chinese customers, partners, and the general public.
While some companies are working to minimize their regional supply chain exposure, Washington prohibits certain imports like Xinjiang Cotton or blacklists Chinese businesses it believes have aided Beijing’s policies there. However, there are many stores owned by foreign brands.
Tesla was also subject to NHTSA’s scrutiny, as it is investigating safety concerns in its autopilot system.
Following a safety inspection by the government, the automaker agreed to upgrade its software in order to stop drivers from using the car’s computer while it is moving.