Elon Musk has made history as the first person ever to reach a net worth of more than $500 billion (€430 billion). The Tesla boss’s fortune briefly touched $500.1 billion on Wednesday afternoon in New York, according to Forbes. It later dipped slightly to just over $499 billion.
Musk’s wealth has soared thanks to strong performances from Tesla, SpaceX, and his artificial intelligence start-up xAI. Tesla shares rose more than 3.3% by the end of Wednesday’s trading, bringing their total gain to over 20% this year. The company’s improving performance has boosted investor confidence, especially as Musk focuses more on his businesses rather than politics.
Musk’s closest rival, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, is a distant second with around $350.7 billion (€301.85 billion). Ellison briefly overtook Musk last month after Oracle shares jumped by 40%, driven by optimism around cloud and AI deals.
Musk owns more than 12% of Tesla, linking his fortune directly to the company’s value. The Tesla board chair, Robyn Denholm, said in September that Musk was now “front and centre” at the firm.
Tesla’s board has also discussed a potential pay package worth over $1 trillion (€860 billion) if Musk meets ambitious goals, including selling a million AI robots and 12 million cars.
Musk recently bought $1 billion (€860 million) in Tesla shares, seen as a show of faith. Despite rising competition from China’s BYD, Tesla aims to shift toward AI and robotics, signalling a bold new chapter.
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