News Investigators/ Elon Musk on Thursday became the first person estimated to reach a net worth of 500 billion dollars.
This is according to U.S. magazine Forbes, largely held in shares of electric carmaker Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX.
Forbes calculated Musk’s wealth at roughly 150 billion dollars more than Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
The magazine later revised the estimate slightly down to 499.1 billion dollars.
Musk’s wealth is harder to estimate than that of other billionaires because many of his companies are not publicly traded.
Musk surpassed the 400 billion dollars mark in December 2024, amid investor speculation that Tesla would benefit from his connections to then-newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump.
He frequently visited the White House early in Trump’s term, but relations soured later and Trump threatened to cut federal support to Musk’s firms.
Tesla sales also softened, partly because some potential buyers were put off by Musk’s right-leaning political views and his role in Trump’s federal lay-offs and cost-cutting measures.
Tesla’s stock has since rebounded, bolstered by expectations for growth in robot axis and robotics, and possibly by a spike in sales ahead of the expiration of federal electric vehicle incentives in late September.
Musk’s portfolio also includes social media platform X, AI developer xAI and neural implant company Neuralink. Tesla, however, remains central to his fortune.
The electric carmaker is offering a compensation plan potentially worth 1trillion dollars, contingent on achieving eightfold market value growth, maintaining Musk as chief executive and fulfilling other performance conditions.
Truly, the sheer scale of Musks potential compensation package is staggering – 1 TRILLION dollars! Its enough to probably buy a small island and start our own internet company called eCom. 😂 Meanwhile, Teslas central role in his fortune is like the main character in his own movie, where hes both the hero and the villain, depending on whether the stock is up or down. On a serious note, though, the end of federal incentives might make electric cars feel a bit like those made-in-Nigeria goods Tinubu is urging us to buy – maybe slightly less exciting without that government boost. Who knows, maybe Neuralink will soon implant a think positive chip to help with all this financial madness! 🤖💰Grow a garden pet tier list