Elon Musk to become the world’s third-richest person after Tesla's S&P inclusion

Billionaire and SpaceX Founder Elon Musk is all set to become the third-richest person in the world, surpassing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The news comes after his net worth mounted by more than $15 billion in extended trading after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Musk's electric carmaker Tesla Inc will join the market index in December. Tesla's shares jumped nearly 11 percent in the after-hours of trading.

After posting its fourth consecutive profit in the second quarter of this year, Tesla on Monday became eligible to join the S&P 500 in December. Additionally, based on its market value, Tesla would be one of the top 10 companies in the benchmark index upon entry.

ALSO READ

Elon Musk says Tesla is launching in India 'next year for sure'

The announcement of Tesla entering the S&P 500 came after months of speculation and a temporary setback after its stock failed to make the cut during the index’s quarterly rebalancing in early September.

Tesla — whose stock closed at $408.09 — surged about 14 percent, lifting Musk’s net worth to $117.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. According to it, Musk's wealth has jumped $90 billion this year, the biggest gain on the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people.

Tesla shares soared 387.8 percent this year as the company is finally making money on consistently and continues to hit milestones for deliveries of its vehicles.

An earlier report by Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed that Amazon Chief Jeff Bezos has been one of the biggest wealth gainers in 2020, with company stock gaining a staggering 86 percent since the start of the year. Bezos is followed by Bill Gates, whose net worth has reached $124 billion.

Elon Musk has been coming up with announcements from the past few days. Recently, his startup SpaceX launched four astronauts, including three Americans and one Japanese, to the International Space Station on the first full-fledged taxi flight for NASA by a private company.