Elon Musk makes $15 million in just two hours as Tesla stocks surge 14 pct

Billionaire Elon Musk added $15 billion to his wealth in just two hours on Monday after his electric carmaker Tesla was named for inclusion in the S&P 500 index. After the latest increase in fortunes, Musk is the third-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg. Tesla's stock surged about 14% in extended trading, lifting Musk's fortune to $117.5 billion. His wealth has jumped $90 billion this year.

The latest surge in stocks came after S&P Global said that shares of the Elon Musk-owned company will be added to the S&P 500, a broad measure of the most prominent stocks listed in the US. Tesla which has a market cap of $390 billion will officially join the benchmark index prior to trading on December 21, the S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a statement late on Monday.

It is a milestone for Tesla that will expand its investor base and put the electric automaker in the same league as Apple, Berkshire Hathaway and Microsoft.

"Tesla will be one of the largest weight additions to the S&P 500 in the last decade, and consequently will generate one of the largest funding trades in S&P 500 history," S&P said in a statement.  

"However, Tesla itself is very liquid, and adding the stock at the upcoming December quarterly rebalancing coincides with the expiration of stock options, stock futures, stock-index options, and stock-index futures, which may help facilitate the funding trade".

Since Tesla is a large company, S&P Global said it is consulting with investors as to whether to add Tesla in two tranches or all at once, reports ZDNet.

"Due to the large size of the addition, S&P Dow Jones Indices is seeking feedback through a consultation to the investment community to determine if Tesla should be added all at once on the rebalance effective date or in two separate tranches ending on the rebalance effective date," the statement read.