Elon Musk

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.

Elon Musk now sits behind only Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos on the international rich-list, following a sharp rise in the valuation of Tesla this week. In the last seven days alone shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer rose from $447 (approximately AU$607) to $558 (approximately AU$758), representing an increase of approximately 25 per cent. Market capitalisation now sits at $526.45 billion (approximately AU$715 billion).

The owner of a Tesla Model Y has claimed the vehicle's glass pane roof separated from its body while driving on a freeway in California. In a video posted to Twitter, the owner directed their comments to Tesla boss Elon Musk, writing: "Why didn't you tell us that Tesla sells convertibles now? Because the roof of our brand new Model Y fell off on the highway". On the Tesla Model Y, the entire roof panel is a single sheet of glass.

Tesla has moved to sue high profile EV competitor Rivian Automotive, accusing the start-up of stealing trade secrets through ex-employees. The lawsuit, filed with the Superior Court of California in the County of Santa Clara, says that the dispute stems from "Rivian’s efforts to misappropriate Tesla’s trade secret, confidential, and proprietary information by recruiting Tesla employees and encouraging them to take such information as they leave Tesla."

Tesla could be the first company to develop fully-autonomous cars. Speaking remotely at the 2020 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in China on Thursday, Tesla founder Elon Musk says the company is "very close to level five autonomy". Level Five autonomy is the industry's label for fully-autonomous driving – the point at which a car can take over all duties from a human.