Elon Musk, the visionary CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, has once again made history by surpassing the half-trillion mark in personal wealth. According to Forbes’ billionaire index, Musk’s fortune briefly hit $500.1 billion on Wednesday, October 1st in New York, before settling around $499 billion by the end of the day. This milestone makes him the first individual ever to reach such an astronomical figure.
With a net worth of $350.7 billion, Oracle’s founder Larry Ellison trails far behind in second place. Musk’s surge in wealth is closely tied to Tesla’s robust stock performance, which has risen over 20% this year alone, including a 3.3% gain on October 1st. Musk’s 12% stake in Tesla plays a major role in boosting his fortune. Additionally, the rising valuations of his artificial intelligence venture xAI and space exploration company SpaceX further contributed to this unprecedented achievement.
Musk’s path to success has been as remarkable as his financial achievements. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, he coded his first video game at the age of 12. He endured a difficult childhood marked by bullying, his parents’ divorce, and challenges related to Asperger’s syndrome. After studying economics and physics at the University of Pennsylvania, he briefly enrolled in Stanford’s graduate program before dropping out to pursue entrepreneurship. His early ventures eventually evolved into PayPal, which was sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion.
Investing the proceeds into Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has reshaped industries ranging from electric vehicles to rocket technology. His 2022 acquisition of Twitter sparked global debate, although the platform’s value has since dropped from $44 billion to about $9.4 billion. Looking forward, Tesla’s board has outlined ambitious goals that, if achieved, could grant Musk a compensation package worth over $1 trillion, solidifying his place not just as the world’s richest man, but as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in history.