Elon Musk became the world's wealthiest person overnight (between Wednesday and Thursday) after shares of Tesla, his electric vehicle company, jumped 15% in a single trading session.
Donald Trump's newfound ally saw his fortune increase by $63.5 billion over eight hours, with his personal wealth gaining $23 billion in a single day from this surge. According to Bloomberg, this represents the largest single-day increase in an individual's wealth since the agency began tracking such metrics in 2012.
The prevailing assumption is that Trump, who had previously criticized electric vehicles during his campaign but later softened his stance, will ease tax burdens on major corporations. This, coupled with Trump's speech praising his new ally as a "new star," contributed to the market reaction.
Notably, Musk isn't alone in this unprecedented wealth surge. The list includes nine other individuals who increased their fortunes in a single day by historic amounts: Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Donald Trump himself, whose stock jumped 20% during trading. Among the top ten, only one is not identified as a US resident.
According to Forbes magazine, the world's ten wealthiest people currently are:
1. Elon Musk - $285.6 billion
2. Jeff Bezos - $223.5 billion
3. Larry Ellison - $220.8 billion
4. Mark Zuckerberg - $197.9 billion
5. Bernard Arnault and family - $168.1 billion
6. Warren Buffett - $147.4 billion
7. Larry Page - $146.4 billion
8. Sergey Brin - $139.9 billion
9. Jensen Huang - $127.0 billion
10. Amancio Ortega - $126.0 billion
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce an interest rate cut of 25 basis points today.
