Tesla Stock Soars, Musk's Wealth Hits 337 Trillion Won... "Bigger Than ExxonMobil's Market Cap"

Musk's Wealth Surpasses ExxonMobil and Nike Market Caps
Overwhelming No.1 with 112 Trillion Won More Than World's No.2

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] On the 25th (local time), the stock price of the American electric vehicle company Tesla surpassed $1,000, causing CEO Elon Musk's wealth to surge to an astronomically unprecedented level.

According to the billionaire index released by Bloomberg News on the day, Musk's net worth increased by $36.2 billion (approximately 42.22 trillion KRW) thanks to the sharp rise in Tesla's stock price, reaching $289 billion (approximately 337 trillion KRW).

Bloomberg reported, "The $36.2 billion increase in wealth is the largest in the history of the billionaire index," adding, "Musk's net worth is greater than the market value of ExxonMobil or Nike."

On the same day, ExxonMobil's market capitalization was $272.4 billion (approximately 318 trillion KRW), and Nike's market value was $259.9 billion (approximately 303 trillion KRW).

Bloomberg, citing the U.S. business data analysis firm Equilar, stated that considering stock options related to Tesla's management performance, Musk's net worth is expected to reach $297 billion (approximately 346 trillion KRW).

Bloomberg analyzed that this figure surpasses Toyota's market value of $282 billion (approximately 329 trillion KRW), which ranks second in market capitalization among global automobile companies after Tesla.

Musk widened the wealth gap with other billionaires by leveraging Tesla's stock price, which reached the 'Thousand Tesla' milestone.

According to Bloomberg's billionaire index, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, ranked second, had a net worth of $193 billion (approximately 225 trillion KRW), nearly $100 billion behind Musk.

Following were Bernard Arnault, chairman of the global luxury goods company Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) (3rd place, $163 billion), and Microsoft (MS) founder Bill Gates (4th place, $134 billion).

Musk also reached an unprecedented billionaire status on the Forbes billionaire index, which uses a different asset aggregation method from Bloomberg.

According to Forbes, Musk's net worth increased by $25.6 billion (approximately 30 trillion KRW) in one day, reaching $255.2 billion (approximately 298 trillion KRW).

Forbes stated, "Musk now holds more wealth than any billionaire in history," noting that his net worth exceeds the combined wealth of Google co-founder Larry Page (6th) and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (7th).

Bloomberg assessed that amid President Joe Biden and Democratic leadership's consideration of wealth tax plans targeting a very small number of the ultra-rich, the unusually large increase in Musk's wealth could influence the introduction of a billionaire wealth tax.