Tesla stock overtakes Facebook, Elon Musk becomes world’s richest person – report

Tesla stock has overtaken Facebook to hit record highs in the US, making founder and CEO Elon Musk the world's richest person.

Tesla shares saw gains of nearly 8 per cent on Thursday, overtaking Facebook to take the fifth spot on the S&P 500 by market capitalisation.

The surge in value propelled Musk to the top of the world's rich list, according to news outlet Bloomberg, taking the position from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Musk's net worth is reportedly around US$195 billion, or approximately AU$250 billion – US$9.5B more than Bezos.

"How strange," Musk wrote in response to the news on Twitter. "Well, back to work…"

Financial commentators have been quick to point out the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of Tesla stock – a measurement of whether a publicly-traded company is undervalued, fairly valued, or overvalued – currently sits at a whopping 1560.31, compared to Facebook's PE ratio of 30.62.

Fans have suggested Tesla's meteoric rise on the stock market has more to do with the company's future potential, rather than its current sales.

Earlier this week the electric car company reported it had sold half a million vehicles in 2020 – a record for the brand.

MORE: Tesla sells record 500,000 cars globally in 2020
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