On the charge: Tesla breaks $500bn market valuation after stock rally
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Tesla has broken through the $500bn (£375bn) market value mark following a mammoth rally that has seen its share price rise more than sixfold this year.
The company’s shares were opened more than five per cent up today to give the firm a market cap of $519bn.
The growth will round off an historic year of gains for the electric car manufacturer, which has shrugged off a short-selling frenzy to enjoy continued stock growth.
Shares have risen almost 28 per cent since it was announced last week that Tesla will be added to Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index from December.
The rally means Tesla has become by far the world’s most valuable car manufacturer, eclipsing Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors despite producing a fraction of the number of vehicles.
It is now Wall Street’s seventh most valuable company, just behind Berkshire Hathaway and just ahead of Visa, according to Refinitiv data.
The recent rise in value has also boosted boss Elon Musk’s net worth by $7.2bn to $127.9bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This means he has overtaken Bill Gates to become the world’s second-richest person.
While Tesla is leading the charge in the electrical vehicle market, other eco-friendly manufacturers have also been given a boost in recent weeks.
President-elect Joe Biden — a self-declared “car guy” — has said he will make the uptake of electric vehicles a key part of his climate strategy.