Elon Musk, already the world’s richest individual, crossed an unprecedented threshold Wednesday: a net worth of $500 billion.
The milestone, tracked by Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires index, makes Musk the first person to reach half a trillion dollars in personal wealth. It places him nearly $150 billion ahead of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the second-richest person in the world.
The surge in Musk’s fortune was driven largely by a 4 per cent rise in Tesla’s stock on Wednesday afternoon, which alone added more than $9 billion to his net worth.
Tesla shares have nearly doubled in value since April, when Musk said he would step back from his role in President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency and devote more attention to Tesla.
The company’s market capitalization now sits within 10 per cent of its all-time high. Musk’s 12 per cent stake is worth about $191 billion.
That figure excludes billions more tied up in stock options. A 2018 compensation package, voided by a Delaware judge last year, could be worth $133 billion if Musk succeeds in an appeal.
In September, Tesla’s board proposed a new pay package that could, under certain performance conditions, give him stock valued at as much as $1 trillion.
Musk’s wealth extends well beyond Tesla. His space exploration company, SpaceX, founded in 2002, was valued at $400 billion in a private tender offer in August, up from $350 billion late last year.
Musk’s 42 per cent stake is estimated at $168 billion. He also holds a 53 per cent stake in xAI Holding, a merger of his artificial intelligence startup xAI with social media platform X, formerly Twitter, valued at roughly $60 billion.
What you should know
The half-trillion-dollar benchmark caps a dramatic rise in Musk’s fortune over the past five years. In March 2020, his wealth stood at $24.6 billion, fueled primarily by Tesla’s early stock gains. By August of that year, he had joined the ranks of those worth more than $100 billion.
In January 2021, Musk overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person with a net worth of about $190 billion. Later that year, he surpassed $200 billion, and by November 2021, $300 billion. In December 2024, he became the first person to reach $400 billion.
If the current trajectory holds, Musk could become the first trillionaire by the early 2030s. Musk himself, however, has downplayed the focus on his net worth.
Earlier in September, Oracle founder Larry Ellison briefly claimed the world’s richest title from Elon Musk after a $100 billion net worth gain.
