Elon Musk overtakes Bill Gates to become world’s second-richest person

Elon Musk has passed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the world’s second-richest person, only a week after he overtook Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to become the third-richest as Tesla’s share price continues to soar.

TruetellsNigeria The electric car company’s value has risen following the announcement that it would join the S&P 500 index of leading US companies, driving its market value close to $500bn.

Mr Musk, 49, is now worth more than $128 billion (£95bn) as he owns 20% of all of the company’s shares, which have risen by more than 675% since 25 November last year, when they were valued at $67.27 (£50.33) each.

Tesla’s share price is currently valued at $521.49 (£390.20) a share, and if the growth continues, Musk could net a bonus deal worth a record $55.8bn. To trigger the maximum payout he has to build Tesla into a $650bn company by 2028, The Guardian reports.

Tesla is the most valuable car company in the world by share price, with a market value of just over $494bn (£370bn).

Just last week, Musk overtook Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg in the third position.