Tesla's market capitalization surged above $600 billion, making the once wobbly startup founded by billionaire Elon Musk worth more than the five top-selling global vehicle making groups combined.
The exclamation point came on Friday when Tesla rose to a record high in frantic trading ahead of the stock's much anticipated entrance into the benchmark S&P 500 index.For 2021, all signs point toward the industry accelerating its shift toward electrification, a turning point as historically momentous as the launch of Ford Motor Co's moving assembly line for the Model T or General Motors ' 2009 bankruptcy.Tesla's ascent came the same year that activist hedge funds and other investors ratcheted up pressure on corporations to fight climate change..