Elon Musk’s personal fortune rockets by $15bn in same week he tests positive for Covid

Beginning this year 37th on the global rich list, Musk is now the third wealthiest person on the planet

CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has tested positive for Covid-19 (Getty Images)

Multi-billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk’s personal fortune has swelled by more than $15bn (£11.3bn) in a single week, propelling him to become the third-richest person on the planet.

It caps an eventful if mixed week of events for the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, coming after he tested positive for Covid-19. On Saturday he tweeted he “most likely” had a moderate case of Covid-19 with minor cold symptoms.

On Monday, Mr Musk’s electric-car company Tesla joined the S&P 500 stock market index, one of the most-followed stock market indices across the world.  

Tesla’s share price shot up about 14 per cent in New York following the news. Mr Musk's net worth surged to $117.5bn as a result, with the entrepreneur owning a 20 per cent stake in the company.

His overall fortune has jumped by $90bn this year alone, giving him the highest rise in rankings of the world’s 500 richest people. Mr Musk began at 37th position on the rich list in January this year.

Mr Musk’s fortune rocketed a day after four astronauts were blasted into the International Space Station in SpaceX’s Dragon capsule from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday night. Mr Musk, who is usually present during major launches, could not attend after receiving two positive coronavirus tests.

Earlier, Tesla shares suffered had losses of over 8 per cent due to an ongoing row over the import of car parts between the US and China.