Elon Musk Becomes First Person In History To Be Worth $400 Billion

Elon Musk has become the first person in history to reach a net worth exceeding $400 billion, with Forbes estimating his wealth at $428 billion as of Wednesday afternoon.

This milestone cements his position as the richest person ever recorded in nearly 40 years of Forbes tracking global billionaires.

According to Forbes, Elon Musk’s wealth surged by $58 billion following news that SpaceX completed a share buyback deal valuing the company at $350 billion.

His 42% stake in SpaceX is now worth an estimated $147 billion, marking a 60% increase since the company’s last valuation earlier this year, which stood at $210 billion.

SpaceX has now become the world’s most valuable private company, overtaking ByteDance, OpenAI, and Stripe.

“What’s really crazy about this is that almost no investors wanted to sell shares even at a $350B valuation!

“SpaceX reduced the amount of shares it bought back from employees in order to allow some new investors in,” Musk wrote on X, the social media platform where he owns a 75% stake.

Elon Musk’s 2024 has been exceptionally lucrative, with his net worth climbing by more than $150 billion since January.

This growth is largely driven by SpaceX’s rising valuation, his 13% stake in Tesla (worth nearly $170 billion), and his 54% stake in the artificial intelligence company xAI, recently valued at $50 billion.

Tesla’s stock has soared by over 70% since the November 5 presidential election, which has also highlighted Musk’s growing ties to President-elect Donald Trump.

Musk has reportedly committed significant resources to Trump’s campaign and transition process, earning a position as co-head of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). This new role could influence regulatory decisions impacting Musk’s companies.

Elon Musk is now $180 billion ahead of Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and the world’s second-richest person. Bernard Arnault, the French luxury magnate, briefly reclaimed the top spot earlier this year before Musk regained it in May, buoyed by Tesla’s stock rally.

With the rapid growth of SpaceX, Tesla, and xAI, Musk’s lead in the wealth rankings appears secure for now. If his fortune continues to rise at the same pace, he could potentially become a trillionaire by the end of the decade—though such growth is far from guaranteed.

KanyiDaily recalls that Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg recently overtook Amazon’s Jeff Bezos as the world’s second-richest person.