Elon Musk Becomes First Person In History To Reach $500 Billion Net Worth

Tesla CEO Elon Musk reached a historic milestone on Wednesday, becoming the first person ever to have a net worth of $500 billion.

According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires tracker, Musk’s fortune hit $500 billion around 3:30 pm Eastern. He had already made history in December as the first person worth $400 billion.

Elon Musk is now $150 billion richer than the second-wealthiest person, Larry Ellison, and halfway to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

Tesla shares rose nearly 4% on Wednesday, adding roughly $9.3 billion to Musk’s wealth. Investors are reacting positively to his renewed focus on Tesla.

The company’s stock has nearly doubled since Musk said in April he would step back from his role in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to concentrate more on Tesla.

With Tesla’s market value close to its December record, Elon Musk’s 12% stake in the company is now worth about $191 billion.

This doesn’t include stock options from his 2018 Tesla CEO compensation package, which could be worth $133 billion if they hadn’t been voided by a Delaware judge in January 2024.

Forbes has currently valued those options at half their original worth while Musk appeals the decision to the Delaware Supreme Court.

In September, Tesla’s board proposed a new, unprecedented pay package that could give Musk additional stock worth up to $1 trillion if the company hits ambitious growth targets over the next decade.

Musk’s wealth isn’t just tied to Tesla. SpaceX, the rocket company he founded in 2002, is now valued at $400 billion, up from $350 billion in December, giving his estimated 42% stake a value of $168 billion.

Then there’s xAI Holdings, Musk’s AI company, which he merged in March with the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), giving the combined company a $113 billion valuation. Musk owns about 53% of xAI, worth roughly $60 billion.

Musk’s climb to $500 billion is the latest in a series of rapid milestones. In March 2020, he was worth $24.6 billion. By August 2020, Tesla’s stock had pushed him past $100 billion.

He became the world’s richest person for the first time in January 2021 at nearly $190 billion, reached $200 billion in September 2021, $300 billion in November 2021, and $400 billion in December 2024.

If this growth continues, Musk could become the first trillionaire by March 2033, when the first vesting date for his $1 trillion Tesla pay package occurs. But Musk has said the pay package isn’t really about the money.

“It’s not about ‘compensation’, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots,” Musk wrote in a September X post.

“If I can just get kicked out in the future by activist shareholder advisory firms who don’t even own Tesla shares themselves, I’m not comfortable with that future.”

KanyiDaily recalls that in July, Elon Musk and the United States President Donald Trump reignited tensions with sharp comments aimed at each other.