(Bloomberg) -- It’s just one more arresting data point amid a flurry of superlatives, but Elon Musk’s soaring net worth now makes him more valuable than Exxon Mobil Corp.
The wealth of the world’s richest person jumped to $288.6 billion Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The $36.2 billion gain followed a surge in Tesla Inc.’s stock price after Hertz Global Holdings Inc. ordered 100,000 cars.
Eclipsing the value of an old-economy bellwether like Exxon may seem like an inevitable milestone in Musk’s trajectory. But the oil company’s own share price has been no laggard this year. Despite being overtaken by Musk at the start of 2021, Exxon has been on a tear since then. It outpaced the Tesla chief executive this year as oil and natural gas prices advanced. Still, that fossil-fuel rally, should it continue, may help spur even more sales of electric vehicles.
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