Elon Musk's net worth hits $681 billion, more than double Google co-founder Larry Page's $249 billion wealth, as Tesla's stock surge widens the billionaire gap.

Tesla Inc TSLA shares have soared in recent days thanks to progress being made with the company's autonomous vehicle vision. A U.S. senator could throw cold water on the rally with a bill aimed to disrupt self-driving vehicles.

Tesla stock closed at a fresh record high on Tuesday, completing a monthslong rebound from severe losses earlier in the year.

There was no shortage of news that tossed the stock around like a rag doll, but here are three of the biggest events of the year for Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. It was dubbed a bromance in the White House.

Using Tesla's current shares outstanding (3.5 billion) and the market cap target suggests a share price of about $2,400. That's nearly 6 times the current share price, which is extremely ambitious. (Note that 424 million shares multiplied by $2,400 gets you to over $1 trillion.)

A video circulating online appeared to show a Tesla Model Y robotaxi with no safety monitor inside driving on Austin streets.

Elon Musk had jokes when Apple started hiring his former engineers—until he needed Apple to buy his company. It was classic Musk: flippant, cutting, and aimed directly at one of the most powerful companies on Earth.

Tesla ( TSLA +3.44%) stock jumped 4.5% through 1:45 p.m. ET Thursday on some apparently bad news -- that might turn out to be good news for Tesla stock, and for SpaceX stock, too ( once SpaceX IPOs ).