Tesla’s Elon Musk Made $1.1 Billion In One Day

Tesla Model S

It’s good to be Elon Musk. The man increased his net worth by $1.1 billion yesterday thanks to a huge jump in the price of Tesla Motors stock. The price of one share hit $248, a substantial increase over the $34 trading price it was at this time last year.

The reason for the price jump is two-fold. It came partly thanks to the folks at Morgan Stanley who predict a very good future for Tesla Motors. If their predictions are correct, then by the year 2026 they see Tesla owning the lion’s share of the battery and autonomous vehicle market. That translates into revenues 60 times what they’re experiencing today.

The other factor in the stock’s big jump came from Consumer Reports who named the Tesla Model S its best overall top pick for 2014. This piece of news could go a long way towards quelling any lingering consumer doubts about the car’s safety after recent reports of fires.

These two pieces of good news come on the heels of Tesla’s announced plan to build a lithium-ion battery plant. The “gigafactory” will allow them to reduce the costs of their batteries and make possible the launch of a less expensive Tesla in 2017.

The plant will supply batteries not just to Tesla, but possibly to other electric vehicle manufacturers like Toyota and won’t be solely a Tesla venture. One likely partner is Panasonic who is currently seeking investors to join with it in investing in the plant.

All this good news means that Elon Musk is now $1.1 billion richer than he was at the start of the week. And it’s only Wednesday.

Nicole Wakelin fell in love with cars as a teenager when she got to go for a ride in a Ferrari. It was red and it was fast and that was all that mattered. Game over. She considers things a bit more carefully now, but still has a weakness for fast, beautiful cars. Nicole also writes for NerdApproved and GeekMom.