Elon Musk becomes the second-richest person in the world—a big win for the cleantech industry

Tesla co-founder—Elon Musk is now the world’s second-richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, which tracks the wealth of the world’s 500 richest people.

Musk, age 49, has seen his personal fortune increase by $100 billion from $7.2 billion earlier this year.

Musk leapfrogged Microsoft billionaire—Bill Gates in what Bloomberg calls “the largest increase among those on its Billionaire Index.”

In January, Musk ranked 35th on the list.

Tesla has the highest market value of any automobile company in the world, even though it makes far fewer vehicles than others.

The company is expected to deliver only 500,000 electric vehicles this year, compared to Toyota’s annual production of about 10 million. But this isn’t swaying investors as they rush to buy shares in the company, which is seen as key in helping wean the world off its reliance on fossil fuels.

Elon Musks’ success shows that the cleantech industry can help curb carbon emissions and still remain profitable.