Elon Musk still leads as the world’s richest man with his Tesla surge and soaring valuations of SpaceX and xAI propels him to historic half-trillion-dollar fortune.
Elon Musk has become the first person in history to amass a personal fortune of $500 billion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires index, cementing his position as the world’s richest individual.
The milestone places Musk far ahead of other billionaires. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person, trails him by nearly $150 billion.
Musk’s latest leap in wealth was fueled by a 4% rise in Tesla shares on Wednesday, which added more than $9 billion to his net worth in a single day. The electric carmaker’s stock has nearly doubled since April, when Musk announced he would step back from his role in President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency to focus more heavily on Tesla operations.
Tesla’s market capitalization is now within 10% of its all-time high. Musk owns about 12% of the company, a stake worth an estimated $191 billion. That figure excludes billions more tied to his disputed 2018 compensation package, which could be valued at up to $133 billion if he prevails in an ongoing legal battle. Tesla’s board has also floated a new pay plan that could eventually hand Musk stock worth as much as $1 trillion, depending on future performance targets.
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But Musk’s empire stretches far beyond Tesla. His space exploration company, SpaceX, continues to grow in value and ambition. In August, a private tender valued the company at $400 billion, placing Musk’s 42% stake at around $168 billion. SpaceX is considered a dominant player in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
He also commands significant wealth through his artificial intelligence and social media ventures. Musk controls 53% of xAI Holding, which emerged from the merger of his AI startup xAI and the platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The combined company is estimated to be worth $60 billion, adding tens of billions to Musk’s fortune.
Together, these holdings have propelled Musk into uncharted financial territory, setting a new benchmark for personal wealth. While his fortune is largely tied to the performance of high-growth, high-risk technology companies, his achievement underscores the scale of his influence across industries ranging from electric vehicles and space exploration to social media and artificial intelligence.
With this historic milestone, Musk has become not only the wealthiest individual on Earth, but also the first to cross the half-trillion-dollar threshold — a figure that just a decade ago seemed unimaginable.
