イーロン・マスク氏、世界一の富豪に　資産額１９兆円超

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】米電気自動車（EV）大手テスラのイーロン・マスク最高経営責任者（CEO）が米アマゾン・ドットコムのジェフ・ベゾスCEOを抜き、世界一の富豪となった。米メディアが7日、伝えた。（写真はテスラのCEO、イーロン・マスク氏。米フロリダ州ケープカナベラルで）
　テスラ株の昨年の上昇を受け、主要株主であるマスク氏が恩恵を受けた。米ニュース専門局ＣＮＢＣによると、マスク氏の推定保有資産額は１８５０億ドル（約１９兆２０００億円）。
　南アフリカ出身で歯に衣（きぬ）着せぬ物言いと数々の限界への挑戦で知られるマスク氏は、米宇宙開発企業スペースＸの共同創業者も務める。テスラは電気自動車業界をけん引し、既存の自動車メーカーが同社を追随する形となっている。
　テスラにとって２０２０年は好調な年だった。同社は自動車生産を拡大、複数の工場を新設し、数四半期連続で黒字を維持した。テスラ株はＳ＆Ｐ５００種株価指数に組み入れられ、２０２０年の株価上昇率は７００％を上回った。７日午前の取引で、同社株は前日終値比５・９％高の８００ドル４３セント前後で推移し、同社の時価総額は７５００億ドル（約７８兆円）を突破した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/08-13:16）

Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing founder and CEO of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world's wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday.
Musk is a major shareholder of the electric car company and has benefited from Tesla's surging share price over the last year. CNBC estimated his wealth at $185 billion.
The distinction is the latest superlative for the South African-born Musk, who also leads the aerospace venture SpaceX.
Tesla is widely seen as a pacesetter for the car industry as conventional automakers try to catch up in electric autos.
Tesla had a strong 2020 as it ramped up production, broke ground on new factories and reported a series of profitable quarters and was added to the prestigious S&P 500 index.
That enabled shares to rise more than 700 percent during the year, making it more valuable that the world's top carmakers combined.
- Overcoming controversy -
Musk has hit a stride after stumbling in 2018, when US securities regulators required the Tesla chief to step down as chairman and pay $20 million to settle charges he defrauded investors with false claims on Twitter in August about a possible bid to take the company private, which was quickly aborted.
Musk also was embroiled in a messy public fight over his comments about a British caver, who had mocked the Tesla CEO's offer of a mini-submarine to rescue young soccer players trapped in a cave in Thailand in the summer of 2018.
The caver, Vernon Unsworth, sued Musk after the Tesla chief called him pedo guy on social media, but a California jury in December 2019 ruled the remark was not defamation.
Musk put these controversies behind him last year as Tesla significantly boosted output at car factories in California and Shanghai and moved ahead to build new factories in Texas and Germany.
Tesla watchers do not think Musk will be able to match the massive valuation surge in 2021, but expect continued progress as the carmaker adds production capacity and pushes the envelope on new technologies, including autonomous autos.
Still, several analysts consider the stock to be overvalued, even if they praise the company.
Tesla's performance in 2020 was impressive, but not as impressive as the increase in its shares, which we continue to believe are overvalued, said a note earlier this week from JPMorgan Chase, which has an underweight on the equity.
Shares of Tesla surged 6.3 percent to $803.78 in late morning trading, lifting the company's market capitalization above $750 billion.
Musk holds about 21 percent of Tesla's shares, according to a securities filing.