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Tesla CEO Elon Musk expects German carmakers will mount a comeback after the Model 3 topped European monthly sales charts for the first time.
Musk, whose net worth jumped to $288.6 billion Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, made the prediction in a Twitter reply on Tuesday. He was responding to a user summarizing a German news report that concluded Volkswagen AG’s Golf is typically a best-selling car, and that the Model 3’s showing in September marked the end of an era for German auto manufacturers.
In a second tweet, Musk wrote: “Also, Tesla will soon be a German car manufacturer," referring to the plant Tesla is constructing outside Berlin.
Earlier today, Tesla became the latest US tech giant to hit $1 trillion in market value Monday as investors cheered a large order from Hertz and shrugged off criticism from a US auto safety official.
Shares of Elon Musk's company finished at $1,024.86, up 12.7 percent and topping $1 trillion for the first time.
"Wild $T1mes!" Musk said on Twitter. With this, Musk’s personal fortune jumped by $36.2 billion ( ₹2.71 lakh crore). It’s the biggest one-day gain in the history of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, eclipsing Chinese tycoon Zhong Shanshan’s $32 billion surge last year when his bottled-water company, Nongfu Spring Co., went public.
Musk's fortune increased by $119 billion in 2021.
Tesla is the first carmaker to join the elite club of trillion-dollar companies that includes Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc.
The maker of the Model 3 sedan -- the top-selling electric car worldwide -- is now the second fastest company ever to reach this mark, taking just over 11 years since its public debut in June 2010. Facebook Inc. did it faster, although its market capitalization is now below $1 trillion as the stock has sold off over the past two months.
Musk receives no salary at Tesla: his pay package provides 12 options tranches that vest when Tesla's market capitalization and financial growth hit a series of rising milestones. The options let Musk buy Tesla shares at $70 each, a discount of more than 90% from their current price.
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