Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and 2021 Time magazine personality of the year, experienced record gains this week as Tesla stock rose over $1,000 on the eve of Christmas, posting daily gains of $12.9 billion.
The current net worth of Elon Musk is $274 billion. Elon Musk has gained $118 billion this year. The value of his current net worth is equivalent to 151 million troy ounces of gold or 3.58 billion barrels of crude oil.
This is the third session in a row that Tesla shares have risen. As a result, the price moved above the December 10 resistance at $1,020, giving investors a chance to retest the December 8 range high at $1,072. On Thursday, it gained more than 5% in value, trading at $1,067.
Additionally, investors are betting big on the stock as Tesla secured the majority of battery-grade graphite from a new plant in Louisiana owned by Australia-based Syrah Resources, according to Bloomberg. Initially, Tesla will have the right to increase its supply capacity by 10,000 short tons annually.
Graphite is used as an anode in batteries, and most of the world’s battery-grade graphite is produced in China. Graphite will be supplied by Syrah Resources from Mozambique. By the middle of this decade, Syrah says its Mozambique production could increase to 40,000 tons.
Musk said on Wednesday that he has sold more than $15 billion worth of the company’s stock since early November. In an interview on Tuesday with conservative satirical website, Babylon Bee, the billionaire had made inconsistent statements about whether he might or might not be done. “I sold enough stock to get to around 10% plus the option exercise stuff, and I tried to be extremely literal here,” he said in the interview.
According to Tesla filings, Musk exercised stock options that expire next year and sold a portion of the stocks to pay taxes under the Rule 10b5-1 trading plan set up in September.
Musk is the CEO of publicly-traded Tesla, the world’s most valuable automobile company, and privately held SpaceX, which counts the National Aeronautics and Space Administration among its customers.
According to a December 2021 regulatory filing, Musk owns about 17% of Tesla. According to a Bloomberg analysis, he holds about 65 million options to buy Tesla shares, which are accounted for at their net value.