Elon Musk, whose wealth has been turbocharged since US President-elect Donald Trump’s win last month, became the first person to reach US$400 billion ($537.71 billion) in net worth, the latest milestone for the world’s richest individual.
The most recent catalyst was an insider share sale of his privately held SpaceX, which boosted Musk’s net worth by roughly US$50 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Tesla shares also rallied to an all-time high Wednesday, pushing Musk’s fortune to US$447 billion.
Musk’s one-day wealth jump of US$62.8 billion is the largest on record, and helped propel the combined fortunes of the world’s richest 500 people above US$10 trillion, also for the first time, according to the index.
The group’s net worths are similar in size to last year’s combined gross domestic products of Germany, Japan and Australia, according to data compiled by the World Bank.
Musk has added about US$218 billion to his net worth since the start of 2024, more than any other member of the group. Tesla shares, which make up the bulk of Musk’s fortune, have gained 71% this year and closed Wednesday at US$424.77, their first record high since 2021.
Expectations that Trump will streamline the rollout of self-driving cars and eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles that help the company’s competitors has helped buoy Tesla’s stock. Musk is also slated to occupy a key role in the new administration as co-head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. While it will work outside the government, it gives him a bully pulpit in Washington and a direct line to the Oval Office.
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Meanwhile, the value of his artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has more than doubled to US$50 billion since it last raised money in May, with the Wall Street Journal reporting in November that Trump’s victory helped drive new interest.
On Wednesday, SpaceX and its investors agreed to purchase US$1.25 billion of shares from employees and other company insiders. The deal, which values the privately held space exploration firm at about US$350 billion, makes SpaceX the most valuable private startup in the world.
The company makes most of its money on contracts with the US government, and can likely depend on more support under a Trump administration. The president-elect lauded Musk’s vision of putting astronauts on Mars in campaign speeches, and joined Musk at a SpaceX launch in Texas shortly after the election.
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Jared Isaacman, Trump’s pick for NASA head, is a billionaire tech executive who made the first commercial spacewalk on a chartered SpaceX launch in September. He praised the company as “the most innovative, literally impressive organization that I’ve ever seen” last month after investing US$27.5 million in SpaceX through his payments firm in 2021.
Musk, 53, was handed a piece of bad news last week when a Delaware judge struck down his 2018 Tesla pay package, currently valued at more than US$100 billion, for a second time.
Tesla said it would appeal the decision, which Musk described as “absolute corruption” on X.
Even if Musk’s compensation award is ultimately clawed back, he would still be the world’s richest person by a long shot.
