Mr. Musk’s net worth was $188.5 billion at 10:15 a.m. in New York on Thursday, $1.5 billion more than taht of Jeff Bezos.
Carmakers say new models should also help lift the industry in 2021, after a 15 percent decline in its slowest year since it recovered from the Great Recession.
Shareholders of the two companies voted to join forces in an effort to cope with a major technology shift and plummeting sales.
The milestone seemed unreachable just three years ago and comes as Tesla has seen a string of profitable quarters and a buoyant stock.
As Tesla completes a factory in Berlin, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are introducing electric cars in bids to defend their dominance of the luxury market.
Mike Strizki powers his house and cars with hydrogen he home-brews. He is using his retirement to evangelize for the planet-saving advantages of hydrogen batteries.
Investors are betting that small companies like Workhorse will help popularize electric commercial vehicles. And Tesla aims to extend its reach.
The electric-car maker will be the biggest addition in the history of the benchmark index. Will that settle down its swings?
The chairman of Ford Motor and the great-grandson of Henry Ford is an elder statesman in an industry where C.E.O.s come and go.
The Amazon-owned Zoox is unveiling an electric self-driving vehicle. But are we ready for driverless cars?