Elon Musk, a genius of our time, is poised to become the world's third-richest person. Another surge in Tesla shares pushed his fortune higher, bringing the businessman $7.6 billion.

Tesla stocks edged higher following strong revenue growth and the news that the US electric car giant would be added to the S&P 500 index in December. Its shares spiked by 9% to $444.47 per share in just one trading session, then continued their meteoric rise, and easily crossed the $500-per-share threshold.

By the time Tesla joins the list of 500 companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States, its shares are expected to hit new all-time highs. This will make Elon Musk even wealthier. If the automaker's stocks continue to rise, the entrepreneur could top the world's billionaires list by the end of the year. In the meantime, he is ranked third.

By the way, the third place in the ranking was previously occupied by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who had a net worth of $104 billion. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with a fortune of $185 billion and Microsoft founder Bill Gates with $129 billion are ranked first and second among the world's richest people, respectively.