Elon Musk’s support for President-elect Donald Trump has paid off big as his net worth surpassed $300 billion on Friday — in large part due to Tesla’s market cap exceeding $1 trillion.
Musk, who donated nearly $120 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, was worth $304 billion as of Friday, according to Forbes, which calculated his wealth by factoring in his 20% stake in Tesla as well as his 42% of his valued equity in SpaceX. .
As of November 2020, about 75% of Musk’s wealth is derived from his shares in Tesla.
“Tesla and CEO Elon Musk are probably the biggest winners from the election result, and we believe Trump’s victory will help accelerate regulatory approval of the company’s autonomous driving technology,” said Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research.
Under a Trump administration, Musk could push for favorable regulation of the autonomous vehicles Tesla plans and also force the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to halt potential enforcement actions involving the safety of current driver assistance systems of Tesla, a source told Reuters.
Musk is also the majority owner of xAI, the artificial intelligence startup he founded last year. Musk’s stake in the company, which is in talks for a new round of financing that could value the firm at up to $40 billion, is 60%, according to Forbes.
Musk has previously passed the $300 billion mark. In November 2021, Tesla stock hit an all-time high of $407 per share. But the company’s shares fell as much as 72% – falling to $113.06 per share in January last year.
On Friday, Tesla shares closed at $321.22 per share – up 8.2%.
Tesla shares jumped in late October after the company reported a rise in its quarterly profit margin, boosted by sales of its highly profitable Full Self Driving driver assistance software.
It has been the world’s most valuable automaker for years, with Japan’s Toyota Motor, BYD and others trailing by several hundred billion dollars.
Musk unloaded much of his Tesla stock to help finance his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which he has since rebranded as X.
According to Forbes, Musk overpaid for X, which in August was worth nearly 70% less than its $44 billion asking price.
Tesla has struggled in recent years to maintain its market share as high inflation fueled weaker demand for electric vehicles.
The EV maker has also faced increasingly intense competition from rivals in China, where domestic manufacturers such as BYD and Warren Buffett-backed Xiaomi have disrupted the market.
Trump has said he will appoint Musk to lead a new government efficiency commission. Musk has said at least $2 trillion could be cut from the $6.75 trillion federal budget.
Musk has focused on self-driving vehicle technology, abandoning plans to build an economy car priced under $30,000. However, development and regulatory hurdles have delayed the commercialization of such technologies.
By postal wire
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