(Reuters) &#8211; Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elon Musk’s net worth topped $100 billion on Friday, according to the Forbes real-time billionaires list, as the shares of electric-car maker Tesla Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>) see a more than five-fold surge in value this year.



A large chunk of his wealth comes from the 21% stake in Tesla, according to Forbes. Tesla shares, which went public at $17 a piece in 2010, rose as much as 3.5% in morning trade to a record high of $2,318.49.



The company became the world’s most valuable carmaker by market capitalization on July 1 when it overtook front runner Toyota Motor Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/7203.T">7203.T</a>) and has over the last 10 years made many of its retail investors millionaires.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594.jpg" alt="Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan" class="wp-image-351991" width="704" height="486" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594-300x207.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594-100x70.jpg 100w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594-218x150.jpg 218w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px" /><figcaption>Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for E3/Entertainment Software Association)</figcaption></figure>



Musk is now part of an elite club of just four others with twelve digit net worth. His nearly $100 billion, however, is just about half the net worth of the world’s richest man and Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) CEO Jeff Bezos, according to Forbes.



Musk, who co-founded and sold Internet payments company PayPal Holdings Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/PYPL.O">PYPL.O</a>), now leads some of the most futuristic companies in the world.



Besides Tesla, he heads rocket company SpaceX and Neuralink, a startup that is developing ultra-high bandwidth brain-machine interfaces to connect the human brain to computers.



He set up the Boring Company to make affordable tunnels below busy city streets to for an all-electric public transportation system to avoid the nasty traffic jams in U.S. cities.

Elon Musk At SpaceX Headquarters

South African born Elon Musk’s net worth tops $100 billion: Forbes

(Reuters) &#8211; The S&amp;P 500 rose on Friday, extending a six-day rally led by technology stocks as the prospect of super-low interest rates for a prolonged period and bets on a medical solution to the COVID-19 pandemic spurred risk appetite.



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The tech sector’s 0.7% rise provided the biggest boost to the benchmark index. Energy stocks advanced 0.6% as hurricane Laura passed the heart of the U.S. oil industry in Louisiana and Texas without causing any widespread damage to refineries.



The Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled a plan to support inflation and restore the U.S. economy from its biggest downturn since the Great Depression.



Data on Friday showed U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in July, though momentum is likely to ebb as the COVID-19 pandemic lingers and fiscal stimulus dries up with no sight of the next round of coronavirus relief package.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-themes-graphic/take-five-sayonara-abenomics-idUSKBN25O1SD">Take Five: Sayonara Abenomics?</a></li></ul>



“There’s no question consumer spending is going to be under some stress until we get additional fiscal support,” said Albert Brenner, director of asset allocation strategy at People’s United Advisors in Bridgeport, Connecticut.



The S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq have scaled record highs and the benchmark is on track for its best August in 34 years, partly powered by a rally in technology stocks, while the blue-chip Dow traded above the break-even level for 2020.



“We’d like to see a sort of a broadening of (stocks in the rally); that would indicate to us some greater confidence of market participants in the economic recovery,” Brenner said.



Progress in the race to develop treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 have also added to the cheer. Johnson &amp; Johnson’s Janssen unit said it would expand testing for its experimental coronavirus vaccine to Spain, the Netherlands and Germany next week.



Meanwhile, the U.S. election campaign entered its final stretch with U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republican nomination for a second term. Analysts expect market volatility to increase again ahead of voting in November.



At 9:57 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 77.58 points, or 0.27%, at 28,569.85, the S&amp;P 500 was up 8.77 points, or 0.25%, at 3,493.32. The Nasdaq Composite was up 63.60 points, or 0.55%, at 11,688.94.



United Airlines rose 1.9% as it prepared for the biggest pilot furloughs of its history, a day after announcing the need to cut 21% jobs this year.



Coca-Cola Co gained 0.8% as it announced plans to nearly halve its operating units and offer voluntary separation to 4,000 workers.



In the latest sign that technology companies are booming in the pandemic, business software provider Workday Inc jumped 13.2% after raising its annual subscription forecast and Dell Technologies Inc gained 6.9% after reporting a quarterly profit beat.



Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.19-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.65-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded 12 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and nine new lows.

wall street

Tech stocks extend S&P 500’s rally to seventh straight session

How Coronavirus Set Off A Bankruptcy Wave For The U.S. Economy

(Reuters) &#8211; Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday laid blame on Republican President Donald Trump for the way the coronavirus pandemic and racial strife have spread across the United States.



“The problem we have right now is we’re in Donald Trump’s America,” Biden said on MSNBC in his first public reaction to this week’s Republican convention, where speakers have alleged a Biden administration would produce chaos and disorder.



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“He just keeps pouring fuel on the fire. He’s encouraging this. He’s not diminishing it at all. This is his America now,” Biden said, as the campaign heats up ahead of the Nov. 3 election. “If you want to end where we are now, we’ve got to end his tenure as president.”



His comments come as Trump prepares to unleash a blistering attack on Biden, who served two terms as vice president under Trump’s Democratic predecessor, Obama Barack.



“We have spent the last four years reversing the damage Joe Biden inflicted,” Trump is expected to say Thursday night, according to excerpts of his remarks.



Trump in recent weeks has stepped up his verbal attacks on protests &#8211; largely peaceful but marked with pockets of arson and looting &#8211; in which Americans have voiced their anger at police shootings of Black men, including Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.



Democrats have dismissed Trump’s focus on “law and order” as an attempt to distract from his slow response to the coronavirus pandemic.



In his interview, Biden countered that “the biggest safety issue is all the people dying from COVID,” referring to the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus, which has caused the world’s highest death toll of 180,000 in the United States.



“More people have died on this president’s watch than just about any time in American history on a daily basis,” Biden said. “COVID is out of control.”

download

Biden says coronavirus crisis, unrest symptoms of ‘Donald Trump’s America’

(Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination on Thursday for a second term with an attack on rival Joe Biden, asserting that a Democratic victory in November would exacerbate the racial strife and coronavirus pandemic besieging the nation.



Following are excerpts from the speeches on the last day of the Republican National Convention, much of which was pre-recorded due to the coronavirus pandemic.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP:</h3>



On the pandemic:



“The entire planet has been struck by a new and powerful invisible enemy. Like those brave Americans before us, we are meeting this challenge. We’re delivering life-saving therapies. And we’ll produce a vaccine before the end of the year, or maybe even sooner.”



On the election:



“At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas. This election will decide whether we save the American dream, or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny. This election will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchic agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens.”



“If the left gains power, they will demolish the suburbs, confiscate your guns, and appoint justices who will wipe away your Second Amendment and other constitutional freedoms.”



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352573" width="711" height="524" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-300x221.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-1-570x420.jpg 570w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 711px) 100vw, 711px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



On Joe Biden:



“Joe Biden is not a savior of America’s soul. He is the destroyer of America’s jobs. And if given the chance, he will be the destroyer of American greatness.”



“Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism. If Joe Biden doesn’t have the strength to stand up to wild-eyed Marxists like Bernie Sanders and his fellow radicals &#8230; then how is he ever going to stand up for you? He’s not.”



On public safety:



“Make no mistake, if you give power to Joe Biden, the radical left will defund police departments all across America. They will pass federal legislation to reduce law enforcement nationwide. &#8230; No one will be safe in Biden’s America.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP:</h3>



“Donald Trump did not come to Washington to win praise from the Beltway elites. Donald Trump came to Washington for one reason and one reason alone, to make America great again.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH MCCONNELL OF KENTUCKY:</h3>



“Today’s Democratic Party doesn’t want to improve life for middle America. They prefer that all of us in flyover country keep quiet. And let them decide how we should live our lives. They want to tell you when you can go to work. When your kids can go to school. They want to tax your job out of existence, and then send you a government check for unemployment. They want to tell you what kind of car you can drive, what sources of information are credible, and even how many hamburgers you can eat.”



“I’m immensely proud of the work the Republican Senate has done, acting as a firewall against Nancy Pelosi’s agenda.”



JEFF VAN DREW, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW JERSEY WHO SWITCHED FROM THE DEMOCRATIC TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY:



“Joe Biden is being told what to do by the radicals running my former party, the same radicals trying to install him as their puppet president.”



PATRICK LYNCH, PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION:



“The radical left doesn’t really want better policing. They don’t really care about making the justice system fairer. What they want is no policing.”Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP’S PERSONAL LAWYER AND FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR:



“These continuous riots in Democratic cities, gives you a good view of the future under Biden.”



DAN SCAVINO, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR COMMUNICATIONS:



“While they call it chaos, President Trump calls it change.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">U.S. HOUSE MINORITY LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY OF CALIFORNIA:</h3>



“Four years ago, President Trump promised to be your voice. He kept that promise. But there’s still so much more to do. The choice before you could not be clearer. Forward in freedom or backward in socialism. Forward in prosperity, or backward in poverty. Forward in personal liberty or backwards in more government control.”



BEN CARSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT:



“We have a choice: Do we want big government that controls our lives from cradle to grave? Or do we believe in the power and wisdom of the people and their ability to self-govern with help from a limited federal government?”



DANA WHITE, PRESIDENT OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS PROMOTION COMPANY, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP:



“Make no mistake about it. We still have a long way to go. And that is why we need a leader, with President Trump’s unique attributes, at this critical time.”

396×2765

Quotes from last day of Republican National Convention themed ‘Land of Greatness’

(Reuters) &#8211; U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris on Thursday denounced the looting and acts of violence that followed the police shooting of a Black man, as Republicans sought to paint the two Democrats as weak on crime.



Hoping to win a second term in November and trailing Biden in opinion polls, President Donald Trump has used this week’s Republican National Convention to promise a “law and order” response to protests against racial injustice.



In Kenosha, Wisconsin, relative calm returned after multiple nights of looting and two violent deaths in response to an officer who on Sunday fired seven shots at the back of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, paralyzing him.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-4.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380235" width="641" height="446" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-4.jpg 396w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-4-300x209.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 641px) 100vw, 641px" /></figure>



Harris, a U.S. senator who previously served as California’s attorney general, said she supported peaceful protesters.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380234" width="702" height="936" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait-2.jpg 540w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait-2-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 702px) 100vw, 702px" /></figure>



“We should not confuse them with those looting and committing acts of violence, including the shooter who was arrested for murder. And make no mistake, we will not let these vigilantes and extremists derail the path to justice,” Harris said in a speech from a university auditorium in Washington streamed online.



Protests drew an array of rifle-toting civilians, among them 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who was arrested on Wednesday on homicide charges in connection with Tuesday night’s shootings in which the two people were killed.



Trump said on Wednesday he was sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha. He planned to attack Biden at Thursday’s final night of the convention.



Biden countered by saying Trump was to blame for the way the coronavirus pandemic and racial strife had spread across the United States.



“These guys are rooting for violence. That’s what it’s all about,” Biden said on CNN. “To prove the issue ‘be scared of Joe Biden,’ they’re pointing to what’s happening in Donald Trump’s America.”

540px-Senator_Harris_official_senate_portrait

Kamala Harris condemns looting, violence in wake of police shooting

CHICAGO (Reuters) &#8211; United Airlines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/UAL.O">UAL.O</a>) is preparing for the biggest pilot furloughs of its history after announcing on Thursday the need to cut 2,850 pilot jobs this year, or about 21% of the total, without further U.S. government aid.



Airlines, reeling from the devastating impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on air travel, have asked the U.S. government for another $25 billion to cover employee payroll through March.



The first tranche, which banned any job cuts until Oct. 1, expires at the end of September, but talks in Washington have stalled as Congress has struggled to reach agreement on a broader coronavirus assistance package.



United’s planned cuts, released in a memo to employees and shared with the media, would run between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30. They are significantly higher than the 1,900 announced earlier this week by Delta Air Lines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/DAL.N">DAL.N</a>) and 1,600 by American Airlines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AAL.O">AAL.O</a>).



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x27612.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380110" width="696" height="485" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x27612.jpg 396w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x27612-300x209.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px" /></figure>



Facing a shrinking industry in the years ahead, airlines have generally tried to mitigate the number of forced job cuts by offering early retirement or voluntary departure deals, but some carriers’ packages have been more attractive than others.



“While other airlines have chosen to reduce manpower through voluntary means, it is tragic that United has limited those options for our pilots and instead has chosen to furlough more pilots than ever before in our history,” the union representing United’s 13,000 pilots said in a statement.



United said the numbers were based on current travel demand for the remainder of the year and its anticipated flying schedule, which it said “continues to be fluid with the resurgence of COVID-19 in regions across the U.S.”



Chicago-based United is more exposed than its peers to international travel, which is expected to take longer to rebound from the pandemic.







United, which has warned that 36,000 jobs are on the line across the company, has not yet provided final furlough numbers for other work groups.



American said on Tuesday it was cutting 19,000 jobs in addition to voluntary reductions that will see the company’s workforce shrink by about 30%.



United’s announcement comes on the final day of the Republican National Convention, where President Donald Trump will try to regain momentum against the backdrop of a pandemic that has killed over 180,000 Americans and produced a recession that has resulted in the loss of millions of jobs.

United Airlines announces biggest pilot job cut in its history

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Manhattan’s top prosecutor told a U.S. court on Thursday he should be able to obtain President Donald Trump’s tax returns, saying Trump cannot immunize himself from a criminal probe of his business practices by pursuing an appeal that has “no chance of success.



Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, urged the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan in a filing to reject Trump’s emergency bid to block a subpoena to the president’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, for eight years of tax returns.



Trump has until Monday to respond in writing. Oral arguments are scheduled for Sept. 1.



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The Republican president has been fighting to block Vance’s subpoena for a year, including at the U.S. Supreme Court, which last month rejected his argument that he has immunity from criminal probes while in the White House.



Trump later claimed that Vance’s subpoena was “wildly overbroad” and issued in “bad faith,” largely mirroring similar subpoena issued by congressional Democrats.



He has also called Vance’s subpoena part of a “witch hunt,” saying the case will likely head back to the Supreme Court.



But in Thursday’s filing, Vance said that by continuing to litigate, Trump had effectively obtained “temporary absolute immunity,” a claim “rejected at every level of the federal courts,” by keeping a grand jury from seeing his tax returns.



He also said handing over the returns would not irreparably harm Trump, citing the confidentiality of grand jury proceedings, and noted that the past six U.S. presidents publicly released their tax returns.



On Aug. 20, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, who had rejected Trump’s broad immunity argument last October, again refused to block the subpoena.



“Justice requires an end to this controversy,” Marrero wrote, and which Vance repeated in his filing.



It is unlikely that Trump’s tax returns will become public before the Nov. 3 election.



Vance agreed not to enforce the subpoena until two days after the appeals court rules on Trump’s request for a stay.

Trump must turn over tax returns, does not deserve immunity, Manhattan’s top prosecutor says

(Reuters) &#8211; China’s ByteDance told engineers of its popular short-video app TikTok this week to make contingencies should it need to shut down its U.S. operations, even as it works toward divesting them, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.



ByteDance has been ordered by President Donald Trump to divest TikTok in the United States, amid security concerns over the personal data it handles. Microsoft Corp and Oracle Corp are among U.S. companies vying to acquire the assets of TikTok, which claims about 100 million monthly active users in the U.S. ByteDance is expected to pick a bidder to enter into exclusive talks as early as Friday, according to the sources.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="755" height="425" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1_th.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380226" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1_th.jpg 755w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1_th-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1_th-696x392.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1_th-600x338.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 755px) 100vw, 755px" /></figure>



Trump issued an executive order on Aug. 6 that would ban transactions with TikTok and its Chinese parent in 45 days. While TikTok has filed a lawsuit challenging the order, it is preparing for the possibility that it will have to shut down if it has not reached a deal with an acquirer by mid-September, the sources said. It hopes that any shutdown would be temporary, the sources added.



A sale would have to be greenlighted by both the United States and Chinese governments. The shutdown contingencies are also aimed at preparing TikTok’s global operations for the possibility that one of the two countries blocks any deal, the sources said.



ByteDance told TikTok engineers in a memo this week to draw up plans for shutting down the app in the United States, the sources said.



ByteDance is also making separate plans for TikTok U.S. employees and vendors to be compensated in the event of a shutdown, one of the sources added. TikTok has already implemented a hiring freeze in the U.S. for most open positions because of the uncertainty, bringing in only 5% of the staff it planned to recruit, according to the source.



ByteDance views the shutdown preparations as a back-up plan, and is working toward a deal that would keep TikTok operating in the United States without interruption, the sources said.



The sources requested anonymity as the shutdown preparations are confidential. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while TikTok declined to comment.



While TikTok is best known for its anodyne videos of people dancing that go viral among teenagers, U.S. officials have expressed concerns that information on users could be passed on to China’s communist government. In addition to cutting off access for TikTok’s U.S. users, shutting down TikTok could deprive “influencers,” who have built large followings on the app, from income they receive from advertisers for promoting products and services.



While shutting down TikTok in the United States would prevent new users from downloading the app, it is not clear whether those who have already downloaded the app in the United States would lose access.



ByteDance has been in talks to sell TikTok’s North American, Australian and New Zealand operations, which could be worth $25 billion to $30 billion, since the beginning of this month.



Walmart Inc said on Thursday it was joining Microsoft in its bid for TikTok’s U.S. assets, revealing its plans hours after the app’s recently named chief executive, Kevin Mayer, said he would step down.



Oracle, whose Chairman Larry Ellison is one of the technology world’s few supporters of Trump, has partnered with some of ByteDance’s investors, including General Atlantic and Sequoia, on its bid for the TikTok assets.

The Rise Of TikTok

Exclusive: ByteDance asks TikTok to draw up U.S. shutdown contingencies – sources

(Reuters) &#8211; Tesla Inc shares continued their meteoric rise on Thursday, scoring yet another record high and further expanding the distance between the Silicon Valley electric carmaker and its traditional auto industry rivals.



Tesla shares rose to $2,290 in mid-day trading before leveling out at $2,240, the highest price since the company went public at $17 a share in 2010.



Tesla’s shares have risen more than 420% since the beginning of this year, turning some retail investors into millionaires.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hqdefault-19.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361692" width="704" height="527" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hqdefault-19.jpg 480w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hqdefault-19-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hqdefault-19-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/hqdefault-19-265x198.jpg 265w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px" /><figcaption>How Elon Musk Took Tesla To Hell And Back With The Model 3</figcaption></figure>



While other carmakers are forced to invest billions to overhaul their internal combustion engine operations to produce battery-powered cars, investors are confident that Tesla can make the shift from a niche carmaker into a global leader in cleaner cars.



Tesla became the world’s most valuable carmaker by market capitalization when it overtook former front runner Toyota Motors Corp on July 1. The company now accounts for 41% of the total market cap of a group of 12 of the world’s largest automakers.



(Graphic: Tesla stock rally dwarfs rivals&#8217; market cap Tesla stock rally dwarfs rivals&#8217; market cap &#8211;&nbsp;<a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/TESLA-STOCKS/xklvynnqepg/chart.png">here</a>)



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/TESLA-STOCKS/xklvynnqepg/chart.png" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img decoding="async" src="https://graphics.reuters.com/TESLA-STOCKS/xklvynnqepg/chart.png" alt="Reuters Graphic"/></a></figure>



Tesla produces only a fraction of the vehicles sold by established global carmakers, many of which are considered growth engines for their local economies.



Japan’s Toyota and Germany’s Volkswagen AG (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VOWG_p.DE">VOWG_p.DE</a>) sold 10.46 million and 11 million vehicles, respectively, during the 2019 financial year. That compares to the 367,200 vehicles Tesla delivered in 2019.



Tesla has said it would deliver at least half a million vehicles by the end of 2020, less than 5% of Toyota’s and Volkswagen’s annual sales.



But Tesla withstood industry-wide fallout from the novel coronavirus pandemic and in July reported a second-quarter profit, clearing a hurdle that could lead to the electric carmaker’s inclusion in the S&amp;P 500 index.

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WASHINGTON/CHICAGO (Reuters) &#8211; President Donald Trump is weighing executive action to avoid massive layoffs at U.S. airlines if Congress fails to agree a fresh coronavirus stimulus package, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on Wednesday.



His remarks came a day after American Airlines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AAL.O">AAL.O</a>) said its workforce will shrink by 40,000, including 19,000 involuntary cuts, in October without an extension of government aid as the pandemic continues to devastate travel demand.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-380109" width="698" height="486" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765.jpg 396w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/396x2765-300x209.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 698px) 100vw, 698px" /></figure>



“If Congress is not going to work, this president is going to get to work and solve some problems. So hopefully, we can help out the airlines and keep some of those employees from being furloughed,” Meadows said in an interview with Politico.



He suggested, however, that assistance would require legislative action, saying: “It would take a CARES package, I believe, to do it,” referring to the $3 trillion coronavirus relief package that Congress passed earlier this year.



Airline shares were lower in early trading .DJUSAR.



U.S. airlines received $25 billion in payroll aid under the CARES Act to protect jobs through October and the industry has lobbied for another $25 billion to keep workers employed through March, when they hope travel demand will be stronger.



Meadows said he had spoken with officials from American, as well as from United Airlines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/UAL.O">UAL.O</a>) and Delta Air Lines (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/DAL.N">DAL.N</a>).



“We will continue to work with the administration and our bipartisan supporters in Congress and hope to come to a resolution in a timely fashion,” American said in a statement.



United has warned that 36,000 jobs are at risk. Delta said Monday that it would furlough 1,941 pilots but has not detailed cuts across other employee groups.



“Executive orders will not save our jobs,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA told union members at 19 airlines including United.



“It will definitely take Congress acting to keep all of the job requirements in place,” she said on Twitter, while adding: “Good to see WH wants to restart talks.”



Talks between Meadows, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer ended in early August, with top Democrats and the administration far apart on new legislation.



“Unfortunately, COVID-19 continues to spread and wreak havoc on our industry, and demand for air travel has not returned as anticipated,” the main industry lobby A4A said in a statement, pointing to a challenging fall as airlines prepare to cut jobs and service without additional aid.

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LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; The option of a one-time payment holiday during times of intense crisis might enable countries to pandemic-proof their bonds, a prominent debt fund believes



Economic fallout from COVID-19 has triggered a record number of sovereign defaults in 2020, and managers at Boston-based GMO, heavily involved in sovereign restructurings in recent years, have proposed redesigning bonds so that countries can suspend or even wipe off debt payments for up to a year.



Credit rating agency S&amp;P has downgraded 51 countries this year, and four &#8211; Lebanon, Ecuador, Argentina and Belize &#8211; have already defaulted, beating a record set in 2017.



“In the case of Ecuador, it might have provided enough liquidity relief to prevent a default,” said GMO’s Carl Ross, one of the payment holiday plan’s two architects and a negotiator in Ecuador’s and Argentina’s restructurings.



He favours that idea over current approaches such the linking of debt payments to economic fortunes chosen in 2012 by Greece, and the “hurricane clause” &#8211; offering debt relief if a second catastrophic storm hits &#8211; used in Grenada’s 2015 restructuring.



“Our proposal is to revert to something much simpler,” Ross said. “The whole idea is to prevent countries getting into distress in the first place”.



Sui-Jim Ho, a partner at Cleary Gottlieb &#8211; the law firm that helped draft Granada’s hurricane clause &#8211; said discussion around temporary debt suspensions was gaining traction.



However, he questioned how simple implementing them would be.



“We still need to figure out how the pandemic trigger event should be drafted,” he said “&#8230;Defined too loosely and it could be triggered too easily. Defined too restrictively and you could end up with too little too late.”



Graphic: Bond prices plunge ahead of defaults&nbsp;<a href="https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/dgkvllxenvb/Pasted%20image%201598352935580.png">here</a>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><a href="https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/dgkvllxenvb/Pasted%20image%201598352935580.png" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img decoding="async" src="https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/dgkvllxenvb/Pasted%20image%201598352935580.png" alt="Reuters Graphic"/></a></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">GAME THEORY</h3>



Ross said the potential criticism that GMO’s proposal could be abused by politicians looking for creative funding options was a low risk.



Bond markets would soon work out governments that tried to play the system, and as the deferral option would only be available once &#8211; or perhaps once a decade for long-term bonds &#8211; it was also likely to be used sparingly.



“Interactions between bond markets and governments are a ‘repeated game’ &#8230; We believe this dynamic would be a very effective self-policing mechanism,” he said.



His idea would need International Monetary Fund or U.S. Treasury support to take off, and a country would also have prove it was workable.



Ross said he suggested it to Ecuador but the process was moving too fast by then, and it wouldn’t have prevented Argentina or Lebanon defaulting as their debts had already spiralled out of control.



Countries hit by multiple crises wouldn’t be saved either as having more than one deferral or debt forgiveness option would ramp up their borrowing costs.



Ross and the proposal’s co-author, Mustafa Ulukan, estimate that a single one-year deferral option might only add 0.6% to the 8% a country with a low B-grade rating might pay to borrow for 10 years.



The approach could also address ‘freeriding’ criticism private sector bondholders are now facing for not following G20 governments and allowing the world’s poorest countries to suspend debt payments during COVID-19.



Pressure for that to happen is growing but creditors warn the rating agencies would class it as a default, opening up a host of problems. That is something GMO thinks its plan would avoid.



“This (deferral) option, if broadly used, would be extraordinarily valuable in the current global environment,” Ross said. “This year and 2021, we have a lot of countries that are going to default.”

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