Topline

The world’s richest person got a lot richer on Thursday as Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw a big rally in Tesla shares after the electric vehicle maker’s latest earnings report encouraged Wall Street.

Important facts

Forbes rating

The rally added $20.4 billion to the wealth of Tesla’s largest shareholder, Musk, whose lead as the world’s richest person grew to over $50 billion, according to our calculations.

Surprising fact

Thursday looks set to be Tesla stock’s best day since March 2021 and the sixth-best percentage gain of the last decade, topping the 15.3% gain seen on April 29, when Musk’s surprise visit to China sparked a 15.3% rally. triggered.

Main critic

Despite the overwhelmingly positive stock reaction, this wouldn’t be a Tesla event if it weren’t polarizing. Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein, called Wednesday’s earnings release “more like a pep rally” than a typical meeting, noting that the company gave an unusually casual answer to two questions from sell-side analysts covering the stock .

Big number

117 billion dollars. This is how much market capitalization Tesla added on Thursday. The rally turned the stock’s year-to-date performance from a 14% loss to a 1% gain through Wednesday.

tangent

Musk reportedly received a letter from the Justice Department warning that his political action committee supporting Donald Trump may be violating federal law by allocating $1 million to certain swing state voters because of Musk’s endorsement One of the biggest political donors this election cycle will be GOP candidate Trump.

Further reading

ForbesTesla delivers solid Q3 results as Musk’s company returns to profit growth – shares jump 12%From Derek Saul

ForbesThe Justice Department is reportedly warning Elon Musk that his $1 million in voter gifts may be illegalFrom Alison Durkee