Tesla CEO Elon Musk just zoomed past Warren Buffett on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to become the world’s seventh wealthiest person. Musk’s fortune rose more than $6 billion Friday, according to Bloomberg, after Tesla’s stock surged 10.8% to a record $1,544 per share. Its market value stood at $286.5 billion.Musk owns 20.8% of Tesla’s stock, making his stake worth just under $60 billion. Musk is also the primary shareholder of privately held SpaceX, as well as a privately held tunneling company.Buffett’s fortune fell this week after he donated nearly $3 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to charity — part of his plan to give away most of his wealth to philanthropic ventures. Tesla’s stock is up more than 500% over the past 12 months, exceeding the value of almost every company in the S&P 500. The electric car maker is the most valuable auto company on Earth. The 49-year-old Musk could eventually become the world’s richest person — a spot currently held by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — based on a pay package that Tesla shareholders approved in 2018.
At the end of May, Tesla granted Musk stock options worth $1.8 billion today. Now, it’s about to do that again — for a second time in just over two months.Musk’s pay package lays out a plan that could eventually give him 20.3 million stock options over the course of 10 years.