Elon Musk becomes first to hit $500 billion net worth, boosted by Tesla shares: Forbes

Elon Musk on Wednesday became the first person to surpass $500 billion in net worth, driven by a rebound in Tesla shares and soaring valuations of his other tech ventures.

The milestone comes just under a year after Musk’s net worth crossed $400 billion, cementing his position as the world’s richest person. His fortune briefly touched $500 billion on Wednesday before settling at $499.1 billion at 5 pm ET, according to Forbes’ billionaires index.

Musk’s wealth is closely tied to his roughly 12% stake in Tesla, the world’s most valuable automaker. Tesla stock has gained about 14% so far this year after a volatile start, with Musk last month buying around $1 billion in shares, signalling confidence as the company transitions from an automaker to an AI and robotics player.

The automaker’s board last month proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan for Musk, setting ambitious financial and operational targets and addressing his demands for a larger stake. The package, the largest ever offered to a corporate executive, has lifted investor sentiment and contributed to Tesla’s stock rising 35.7% since its disclosure on September 5.

From autos to aerospace to AI
Musk’s ventures give him outsized influence across technology sectors, from electric vehicles and clean energy to satellite communications and artificial intelligence.

His AI startup xAI and rocket company SpaceX have also scaled valuations this year, reportedly raising funds at $200 billion and $400 billion respectively. xAI, valued at $75 billion in July, is expanding its supercomputer “Colossus” to train large-scale models, aiming to compete with ChatGPT and Google Gemini.

SpaceX dominates the commercial space sector, operating the world’s largest satellite network through Starlink, capturing most U.S. launch contracts, regularly servicing the International Space Station, and carrying satellites for rival networks.

On Forbes’ billionaires list, Oracle founder Larry Ellison ranks second with a net worth of about $350.7 billion.