Elon Musk is officially not only the richest person in the world, but seemingly the richest in human history. Per Forbes, the Tesla CEO becomes the first ever person to have their net worth hit half a trillion, aka $500 billion. And according to their Billionaires Tracker list, it puts him a staggering $150 billion above his closest competitor, Oracle CTO Larry Ellison and his $350 billion. He is now halfway to becoming the world's first ever trillionaire, with his wealth hitting that high on Wednesday, October 1, when Tesla's stock climbed up by 4%.
His net worth has hit all-time highs over the past few months, ever since he stepped down as an advisor to the Trump administration following a very public falling out with the President (although they seemingly patched things up at the funeral of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk last month). Stock prices for Tesla have gone up in recent months, with his 12% stake worth an estimated $191 billion.
It isn't just Tesla pulling its weight for the controversial entrepreneur, though, as his holdings and ownership stakes in his other ventures have equally contributed to his now sky-high net worth. Let's do some digging…
Tesla
While Elon, 54, does not earn any salary as the CEO of Tesla, which he has been backing since 2004, a majority of his wealth comes through his ownership of 12% of Tesla stock. In 2018, he also created a lucrative bonus package as CEO that would entitle him to an additional 1% stake each time the company's market value grew by $50 billion.
The compensation from that alone would've entitled him to between $50-100 billion in additional stock. However, a Delaware judge voided his compensation package in 2024 due to disagreements from shareholders on this resulting in too much of the company's wealth going into his hands, although Elon can still appeal to recall the decision.
SpaceX
In 2002, Elon founded SpaceX, which is now worth $400 billion. He owns an estimated 42% stake in the company, which is worth approximately $168 billion. The company was founded with $100 million of his own early fortune. It was at one point the wealthiest startup, until being recently surpassed by OpenAI, now worth an estimated $500 billion.
xAI
Elon also has xAI Holdings, which was formed just earlier this year to combine assets from his company xAI and his 2022 acquisition of X, formerly known as Twitter. xAI Holdings holds a combined value of $113 billion per Forbes, with the South African magnate holding 53% stake in the company, approximately $60 billion.
But is he really worth $500 billion?
Other investments like the Boring Company, Neuralink, and his many real estate investments also significantly contribute to his wealth. However, his $500 billion net worth has been disputed in the hours since it was revealed by Forbes. Celebrity Net Worth estimates his wealth at $470 billion, as does the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Per Forbes' own tracker, as of writing, his net worth has slid down ever so slightly to $496.3 billion due to fluctuations in the market.