Volkswagen has swiftly gone from corporate dinosaur status to stock market darling, and its chief executive officer's imitation of Elon Musk has a lot to do with it. Herbert Diess has taken a page out of the Tesla CEO's script for captivating investors big and small, taking a hands-on role in getting VW's message out on social media and staging splashy events big on ambition. It's paying off — the carmaker's common shares are now up almost 70% this year while the more liquid preference shares are up more than 40%. The turnabout in sentiment has been dramatic and sudden. VW's market capitalization dropped last year as Tesla vaulted past all other automakers to become the world's most valuable by a wide margin. But already this month, VW has added about $43 billion to its valuation, as optimism that it may be able to catch up to Tesla squeezes short sellers.

— Bloomberg News