Feb. 19, 2008; San Carlos, CA, USA; Tesla Motors president and CEO Ze'ev Drori, left, and Tesla Motors chairman Elon Musk, right, pose in the Tesla Motors development facility in San Carlos, just south of San Francisco next to a Tesla Roadster.

Elon Musk has become the world’s first $500 billion man. Well, at least briefly, according to Forbes.

Tesla surprised Wall Street with record quarterly sales as consumers rushed to snag an electric vehicle before federal tax credits expired, analysts said. Tesla shares fell on the news as investors worried future sales would dwindle without the incentive, but they gained enough briefly the prior day to push up the Tesla CEO's net worth further into the stratosphere before falling back on Oct. 2.

That was the first time anyone has ever been worth that much, Forbes said.

The EV giant delivered between July and September a record 497,099 vehicles worldwide, up 7.4% from a year ago and above the 439,600 average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan combined sales rose 9.4% to 481,166 vehicles, Tesla said.

Though Tesla shares fell on Oct. 2, shares had gained enough briefly the prior day briefly push up Tesla CEO Elon Musk's worth above $500 billion, according to Forbes. That's the first time anyone has ever been worth that much, Forbes said.

Tesla's strong performance wasn't surprising, with Ford posting record EV sales in the same period and GM seeing sales double, but analysts cautioned that good times may not last now that the $7,500 tax credit has expired. The credit for new EV purchases lapsed on Sept. 30.

"With these credits no longer available, the future is quite uncertain." said Kevin Roberts, director of economic and market intelligence at research and shopping site CarGurus. "EV demand is expected to decline, especially after this recent run-up in sales in response to tax credit availability, but how steeply that could drop is unknown."

What do EV makers predict?

EV makers expect sales to slow. "We’re already seeing a number of automakers cancel or scale back their EV product plans," Roberts said.

Jim Farley Ford, Ford chief executive officer, recently estimated EV demand could halve with the expiration of the tax credit.

Companies are also adjusting their prices to brace for a slowdown, he said. Hyundai cut prices on its electric Ioniq SUV and Tesla increased lease prices, he noted.

Even Musk has already outlined the company's pivot toward autonomous vehicles and robots. He's also focused on more advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and energy deployment.

Why does Tesla stock continue to rise?

Investors have looked past Tesla's murky outlook for its main business selling EVs because they believe Musk can lead the company to the next big thing.

It also helps Tesla's board and Musk exude confidence. The board's proposing investors vote for a new $1 trillion pay plan for Musk. The full award would give Musk more than 423 million additional shares.

Musk is already Tesla's largest shareholder with about a 12% stake in the company. Last month, Musk also bought about $1 billion worth of Tesla stock, his first open market purchase of the electric vehicle-maker's shares since February 2020, regulatory filings showed.

As a result of that optimism, Tesla shares have risen around 15% this year.

Is Elon Musk the richest person in the world?

Recent gains in Tesla stock helped Musk regain his title of world's richest person from Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and become the first person to ever surpass $500 billion in net worth, Forbes said.

After a short stint as the world's richest person on Sept. 10, when Oracle's stock soared due to strong earnings and AI cloud contracts, Ellison has fallen back to No. 2 with a fortune of about $350.7 billion.

Ellison's net worth had peaked at $393 billion.

This story was updated to add new information, update a headline.

Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tesla posts strong sales as EV tax credit lapses, Musk becomes first $500 billion man

Reporting by Medora Lee, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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