Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and the world's richest man, saw his net worth increase by about $20 billion after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

About $13 billion of that increase came as Tesla's stock price surged in early trading Wednesday morning, rising 12.7% to $283.24 at 9:40 a.m. ET compared to its closing price the previous day of $251.44.

Musk owns over 411 million shares of Tesla – about 13 percent of the company's outstanding common shares – making him the largest individual shareholder.

Musk also owns large stakes in the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and the space technology company SpaceX. According to Forbes' real-time billionaires list, Musk's net worth was most recently estimated at $285.2 billion.

According to Barron's, Tesla's stock surge added about $120 billion to the company's market value, pushing it above $900 billion for the first time since July 2023.

The rise in Tesla's stock price coincided with Trump's election victory after The Associated Press called key swing states in his favor. Musk donated nearly $120 million to Trump's campaign.

Newsweek Tesla and Donald Trump emailed for comment.

In his victory speech, Trump praised Musk, calling him “a new star” and “a super genius.” Trump highlighted Musk's successes with SpaceX and the impact of the Starlink satellite communications service during Hurricane Helene.

“(Musk is) a character, he's a special guy, he's a super genius. We have to protect our geniuses – we don't have that many of them,” Trump said during his speech.

Trump's victory is expected to bring significant changes to the electric vehicle industry. While a Trump administration could potentially reduce support for electric vehicles by eliminating purchase tax credits, Tesla could benefit from reduced competition and regulatory hurdles.

A second Trump term could also mean a reduction in regulations – something Musk and Trump have been vocal about – which would benefit Tesla's new Cybercab business, also known as Robotaxi. In order to launch this service on schedule at the end of 2025, regulatory approvals are required.

Trump has previously expressed a negative view of the electric vehicle market, saying that electric vehicle buyers should “rot in hell.” In a March 2024 interview, he said electric vehicles were “too expensive” to produce and would be “made in China” in the future.

Since his association with Musk, Trump has toned down those strong opinions a bit, declaring at a rally in June: “Well, I like Elon, but the car… I'm all for them, if you want to go there.” Candy store, buy it some sweets and come back home. But if you want to take a trip to a place like Mar-a-Lago to say hello to me, you better get another form of transportation.

At a later rally, Trump's opinion softened further and he said, “I'm for electric cars. I have to be because Elon has been very supportive of me. So I have no choice.”

Underscoring this cautious agreement with Musk on electric vehicles, Trump said at a campaign rally in Michigan: “I've driven them and they're incredible, but they're not for everyone.”