Elon Musk Just Became The First Person Ever Worth $500 Billion

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Elon Musk: The First Person Ever Worth $500 Billion

Musk is now halfway to becoming the first ever trillionaire.

Elon Musk achieved yet another major milestone recently, becoming the first ever person worth $500 billion. The richest person on the planet is now worth half a trillion dollars, as of 3:30 pm Eastern, per Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires tracker. Musk, who became the first person ever worth $400 billion or more in December, is a significant $150 billion ahead of runner-up Larry Ellison—and halfway to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. This achievement showcases an unprecedented accumulation of wealth, fuelled by his high-growth, high-impact ventures. Many in India and globally watch his trajectory closely, viewing him as a modern-day titan of industry whose financial success is intrinsically linked to the performance of his companies.

Shares of Tesla climbed by nearly 4% on the day of the announcement, adding an estimated $9.3 billion to Musk’s fortune, as investors continue to celebrate the prospect of a refocused Musk. The EV maker’s stock price has nearly doubled since Musk first announced on the company’s April earnings call that he would be stepping back from his role as head of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to spend more time on Tesla. With Tesla’s market cap back within 10% of the all-time high it hit in December, Musk’s crucial 12% stake in the company is now valued at a massive $191 billion. This focus on the core business, especially at a time when the global EV market—including the growing segment in India—is expanding rapidly, has clearly paid dividends for his net worth. The market confidence reflects a belief in his leadership and the future growth of electric vehicles.

And that’s excluding performance-based Tesla stock options from Musk’s 2018 CEO compensation package that would be worth $133 billion today if the award hadn’t been voided by a Delaware judge in January 2024. Forbes has discounted the value of those options by 50% pending the outcome of Musk’s ongoing appeal of the ruling to the Delaware Supreme Court. Meanwhile, in September, Tesla’s board proposed a new, record-breaking pay package that could give Musk additional stock worth up to $1 trillion (before taxes and the cost of unlocking the restricted shares) if Tesla achieves “Mars-shot” performance milestones like growing its market cap more than eightfold over the 10-year life of the award. The sheer scale of these numbers is mind-boggling, setting a new benchmark for executive compensation globally and in emerging markets like India. It underscores the exceptional value the board places on his continued leadership and vision.

The Companies Powering Musk’s Half-Trillion Net Worth

Tesla isn’t the only company Musk has to thank for his half-trillion-dollar fortune. His rocket maker SpaceX, which he founded in 2002, is now valued at $400 billion based on a private tender offer in August, up from $350 billion last December. Musk owns an estimated 42% stake in SpaceX worth $168 billion. The private valuation of SpaceX continues to soar, reflecting its dominance in space exploration and satellite internet with Starlink, a service that many hope will soon bring better connectivity to underserved regions.

And then there’s xAI Holdings, which Musk formed in March, when he merged his new artificial intelligence company xAI with the social media company he acquired in 2022, X (formerly Twitter), in a deal that valued the combined company at $113 billion. Musk owns an estimated 53% stake in xAI Holdings worth $60 billion. This strategic pivot into AI and his influence over one of the world’s most critical social platforms ensures his continued relevance and wealth growth across multiple disruptive sectors. These holdings represent a diversified portfolio, insulating his wealth from potential dips in any single market.

Musk’s Decade-Long Wealth Trajectory

Hitting the $500 billion net worth mark is just the latest in a series of incredible milestones Musk has achieved over the past half decade. Worth just $24.6 billion in March 2020, soaring Tesla shares made him the fifth person ever worth $100 billion, in August 2020. He became the world’s richest person for the first time in January 2021, with a nearly $190 billion net worth. Then, in September 2021, he became the third person ever worth $200 billion (after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Frenchman Bernard Arnault of luxury goods conglomerate LVMH). Musk went on to hit $300 billion in November 2021 and $400 billion in December 2024.

If he keeps up that pace, Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire before March 2033, when the first of two vesting dates for his $1 trillion Tesla pay package hits. But according to Musk, that award isn’t solely about the money anyway. “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.” This perspective highlights that for him, retaining control is paramount, potentially to steer the company’s ambitious AI and robotics projects, an area of growing international focus, including in India.