Elon Musk is $36 billion richer since returning from his triumphant China trip

• Elon Musk has gained $36 billion in net worth over the last week, per Bloomberg.

• Musk is reaping the benefits after Tesla shares surged following his successful trip to China.

• But the billionaire is still less wealthy than he was at the start of the year.

Elon Musk is $36 billion richer following his recent trip to China.

The Tesla CEO has gained $36 billion in net worth over the last week, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, after Tesla shares surged over reports that the company had moved a step closer to getting approval to roll out its Full Self-Driving technology in China. China is Tesla's second-biggest market.

Musk's fortune, closely tied to his 20.5% stake in Tesla, has fluctuated considerably over the past few years.

Despite the latest rally, the SpaceX CEO has seen his personal wealth drop by $27.5 billion since the start of the year, according to Bloomberg data, as Tesla shares have trended downward.

The automakers' stock dropped earlier this month as investors reacted to weaker-than-expected vehicle deliveries for Q1 and reports that Musk had scrapped plans to build a $25,000 EV before shooting up after he promised to fast-track development of cheaper models in the company's earnings call.

Shares rose by 12% on Monday's opening bell following Musk's surprise trip to China, which Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described as a "home run," although they are still down nearly 22% since the start of the year.

Musk is also still a lot less rich than he was in 2021, when he was top of the billionaire's index with an estimated fortune of $340 billion. Three years later, he's now behind LVMH boss Bernard Arnault and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with a current estimated net worth of $202 billion.

Musk has had a difficult few months. Tesla briefly lost its crown as the world's largest producer of electric vehicles to Chinese upstart BYD, and laid off more than 10% of its global workforce earlier this month.

The EV giant has also faced a high-profile recall of nearly 4,000 Cybertrucks the company has delivered so far, and reported plunging profits in its latest earnings amid a brutal EV price war.

But Musk has proved adept at spinning bad news into share price bumps in the past, raking in $100 billion last year despite ongoing issues at social media site X, and after a bumpy few weeks, it looks like he's been able to do it again.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside normal working hours.

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