[News Inside] The 'Eccentric CEO' Who Became the World's 4th Richest Person

Tesla Stock Price Soars Over 800% in One Year... Earns 82 Trillion Won This Year Alone

▲Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The company that surpassed Toyota, the undisputed number one in market capitalization in the automotive industry. The place where the stock price doubled in just two months.

It is none other than 'Tesla.'

On the 22nd (local time), Tesla's stock price closed at $2,049.98 per share, up 2.41%. This is two months after it surpassed $1,000 in June, earning the nickname 'Cheon-sla' (Thousand-sla). Currently, Tesla is worth more than the combined market capitalization of Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, and General Motors (GM).

With Tesla's soaring stock price, CEO Elon Musk has risen to become the world's 4th richest person, following Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO; Bill Gates, Microsoft (MS) founder; and Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on the 23rd, Musk's total assets were estimated at $96.8 billion (approximately 115 trillion KRW). Musk's wealth increased by $69.2 billion (about 82 trillion KRW) this year alone, making him the second highest earner after Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO.

This narrowed the asset gap with the 3rd richest person, Mark Zuckerberg, to within 5 trillion KRW.

The surge in Musk's wealth this year is due to Tesla's soaring stock price. Musk chose stock options based on business performance instead of bonuses or salary, and recently Tesla's stock price has continuously risen, surpassing $2,000 per share, with a market capitalization reaching $382 billion (approximately 454 trillion KRW).

The soaring Tesla stock price is attributed to expectations for eco-friendly electric vehicles and a stock split driving the price increase.

In the second quarter of this year, while most companies worldwide were hit hard by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Tesla recorded sales of $1.4 billion (about 1.6583 trillion KRW) in China alone. This represents a 103% surge compared to the same period last year. In terms of units sold, Tesla sold a total of 142,346 vehicles in the first half of this year.

The stock split that began on the 21st also led to Tesla's stock price surge. Tesla decided on a 5-for-1 stock split on the 11th. At the time of the stock split announcement, the stock price was $1,374, and within about a week, the stock price surged by 50%.

Tesla's upcoming Battery Day on the 22nd of next month is also driving the stock price. CEO Musk announced earlier this year that Tesla would introduce a battery with a lifespan of 1 million miles (1.6 million km), and expectations are growing that this will be revealed during Battery Day.

Tesla's stock price has surged an astonishing 869.72% over the past year and has risen more than 330% this year alone.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said, "CEO Musk will announce groundbreaking news at Battery Day on the 22nd of next month," adding, "This expectation is driving Tesla's stock price."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.