San Francisco: Elon Musk-run electric car company Tesla on Monday hit the $1 trillion market cap for the first time.
Tesla becomes the fifth US company to join the $1 trillion club, after Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet.
Its stock soared to a new record-high after it crossed $950 during the trading -- up more than 9 per cent.
The surge in Tesla Inc's stock market value beyond $1 trillion on Monday is a double bonanza for Elon Musk, the electric car maker's largest shareholder, according to a Reuters report.
The stock rallied 12.7% on news that Tesla landed its biggest-ever order from rental car company Hertz.
Hertz on Monday said it has ordered 100,000 Tesla vehicles (worth at least $4.2 billion) by the end of 2022 as part of an ambitious plan to electrify its fleet.
The move includes new EV charging infrastructure across the company's global operations.
Beginning in early November, customers will be able to rent a Tesla Model 3 at Hertz airport and neighbourhood locations in US major markets and select cities in Europe.
Hertz also is installing thousands of chargers throughout its location network.
Customers who rent a Tesla Model 3 will have access to 3,000 Tesla supercharging stations throughout the US and Europe, the company said.
Earlier, Tesla hiked prices for all four of its in-production vehicles.
The base Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles are each priced $2,000 higher, at $43,990 and $56,990, respectively.
In addition, the base Model S and Model X vehicles will each cost $5,000 more, at $94,990 and $104,990, reports electrek.co.
Global EV sales skyrocketed 200 per cent in the last year and will likely continue to grow with commitments from global automakers to increase EV sales.
For example, in August, three US automakers pledged to boost EV sales to 40-50 per cent by 2030.
Double bonanza for Elon Musk
With Tesla's stock at a record high close of $1,024.86, Musk's 23% stake in the newly minted trillion-dollar company is now worth about $230 billion, according to Refinitiv.
That stake includes options worth over $50 billion that have vested under Musk's 2018 compensation package.
In addition, Musk is a major shareholder and CEO of rocket maker SpaceX, a private company worth $100 billion as of an October secondary share sale, according to a CNBC report.
Musk receives no salary at Tesla: his pay package provides 12 options tranches that vest when Tesla's market capitalization and financial growth hit a series of rising milestones. The options let Musk buy Tesla shares at $70 each, a discount of more than 90% from their current price.
Last week, Tesla reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $3.2 billion, up 77% from the year before. That was enough to vest his seventh options tranche, worth over $8 billion as of Monday.
Tesla's six-month average stock market valuation is over $650 billion, clearing the way for all 12 of the options tranches in Musk's pay package, should the company reach increasingly higher targets related to revenue and adjusted EBITDA for the remaining five tranches.
(With IANS and Reuters inputs.)
