Elon Musk halfway to becoming world’s first trillionaire

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world’s richest person, is nearly halfway to becoming the planet’s first trillionaire, according to Forbes magazine.

The 54-year-old entrepreneur briefly reached a net worth of $500.1 billion before it dipped back to $499.1 billion, as shares in his electric vehicle company rebounded following a rocky political stint and other gains. Forbes’ “Real-Time Billionaires” tracker documented the peak moment.

Musk, who became the first individual to surpass $400 billion in December, now stands $150 billion ahead of runner-up Larry Ellison. He is also halfway to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

Shares of Tesla surged nearly 4% by mid-afternoon on October 1, adding an estimated $9.3 billion to Musk’s wealth. Investors have responded positively to Musk’s decision to step back from his role at President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), allowing him to focus more on Tesla.

Since Musk’s announcement on Tesla’s April earnings call, the company’s stock has almost doubled. With Tesla’s market capitalisation close to its all-time high from December, Musk’s 12% stake in the company is now valued at $191 billion.

This valuation excludes performance-based Tesla stock options from Musk’s 2018 CEO compensation package, which would be worth $133 billion today if not for a Delaware judge’s ruling in January 2024 that voided the award. Forbes has discounted these options by 50% pending Musk’s ongoing appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court. In September, Tesla’s board proposed a new, unprecedented pay package that could grant Musk additional stock worth up to $1 trillion—before taxes and the cost of unlocking restricted shares—if Tesla meets ambitious “Mars-shot” performance goals, such as growing its market cap more than eightfold over the next ten years.

Musk’s fortune is also buoyed by his other ventures. SpaceX, the space exploration company he founded in 2002, is now valued at $400 billion following a private tender offer in August, up from $350 billion last December.

Musk owns approximately 42% of SpaceX, worth $168 billion. Additionally, Musk’s AI company xAI Holdings, formed in March by merging his new artificial intelligence venture with X (formerly Twitter), is valued at $113 billion, with Musk holding an estimated 53% stake worth $60 billion.

If this trajectory continues, Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire before March 2033, Forbes writes, coinciding with the first vesting date of his $1 trillion Tesla pay package. 

Musk’s rise began after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and dropping out of Stanford University. He made his first millions by selling an online publishing software company to US computer maker Compaq for more than $300 million in 1999.

By Sabina Mammadli