Elon Musk Becomes the First to Surpass $500 Billion

Elon Musk on Wednesday became the first person whose net worth exceeds $500 billion, a result of the recovery in Tesla’s stock price this year and the increasing values of his other technological ventures. Musk crossed the half-trillion-dollar mark in just under a year after his wealth surpassed $400 billion, according to Reuters.

Musk’s wealth briefly reached $500 billion on Wednesday before settling at $499.1 billion, according to Forbes’ billionaire index. His wealth is closely tied to his approximately 12 percent stake in Tesla, the world’s most valuable car manufacturer. The stock price of the electric vehicle maker has risen 14 percent this year.

Last month, Musk announced the purchase of Tesla shares worth about $1 billion, which was seen as a sign of confidence as the company rapidly transforms from a car manufacturer into a significant player in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics.

The automaker’s board proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan for Musk last month, setting ambitious financial and operational goals for the CEO while also meeting his demands for a larger stake in the company. The package is the largest ever offered to a corporate executive, and investors expect the pay plan to deepen Musk’s focus on Tesla at a time when he is juggling commitments across multiple ventures.

Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI and rocket company SpaceX have also increased their valuations this year and are reportedly raising funds with estimates of $200 billion and $400 billion, respectively. The AI startup, valued at $75 billion in July, is working on a supercomputer project called ‘Colossus’ for training large language models while its chatbot Grok aims to compete with established players in artificial intelligence such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.

SpaceX has solidified its dominance in the commercial space travel sector, managing the world’s largest satellite network through Starlink while securing most of the launch contracts for the U.S. space agency NASA. The company also consistently launches the most rockets in the world, regularly servicing the International Space Station and carrying satellites for rival networks.

Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle, is currently in the position of the second richest person on Forbes’ list, with a net worth of approximately $350.7 billion.