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Elon Musk officially became the first person in history to hit a $500 billion net worth on Wednesday, beating out every other billionaire alive.
The number was confirmed at 3:30 p.m. Eastern by Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires tracker, making Elon $150 billion richer than Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who now sits in second place after temporarily beating the ‘DogeFather’ just a few weeks ago, as Cryptopolitan reported.
This record comes less than a year after Elon passed the $400 billion line in December, making this a new all-time high for personal wealth, and putting him halfway toward becoming the world’s first trillionaire.
This happened after Tesla’s stock surged by nearly 4% the same day. That one-day surge added about $9.3 billion to Elon’s fortune.
Back in April, Elon told investors on Tesla’s earnings call that he would step down from his government position under President Donald Trump to refocus on Tesla. He had been serving as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Since then, Tesla stock has nearly doubled in value, bringing the company’s total market cap to within 10% of its highest-ever valuation. As of now, Elon’s 12% stake in Tesla is valued at $191 billion, and it doesn’t even include the massive performance-based stock options package from 2018, which would be worth another $133 billion today, but sadly, a Delaware judge voided the award last year.
Elon has appealed the decision to the Delaware Supreme Court, though, and while the case plays out, Forbes is discounting that part of his wealth by 50%.
Tesla board proposes $1 trillion pay package amid court appeal
While the 2018 stock grant remains stuck in legal limbo, Tesla’s board of directors introduced a new pay plan for Elon in September.
This proposed package could give him stock worth up to $1 trillion, before taxes and share unlocking costs, if Tesla reaches extreme growth milestones. The plan includes a target for Tesla to multiply its market cap more than eight times over the next ten years.
“It’s not about ‘compensation’, but about me having enough influence over Tesla to ensure safety if we build millions of robots,” Elon said on X. “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.”
But Tesla alone isn’t what made the $500 billion number possible. Elon also owns a huge share of SpaceX, the rocket company he started in 2002.
In August, SpaceX’s private valuation surged to $400 billion, up from $350 billion in December after a new tender offer. Elon holds 42% of SpaceX, and that stake is now worth $168 billion according to Forbes at press time.
On top of that, there’s xAI Holdings, Elon’s AI startup that he merged with X (formerly Twitter). The combined entity is valued at $113 billion, and Elon owns 53%, which equals $60 billion more in his pocket.
Elon was worth $24.6 billion just five years ago, in March 2020, but by August of that same year, Tesla’s stock rally had made him the fifth person to hit $100 billion.
In January 2021, Elon became the world’s rich list after reaching $190 billion, then he became the third person to cross $200 billion in September 2021, after Jeff Bezos and Bernard Arnault. Then came $300 billion in November, and finally $400 billion in December 2024.
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