Elon Musk's wealth tops $700 billion in historic milestone
Photo: Elon Musk (Getty Images)
Elon Musk has become the first person in the world whose net worth is estimated at more than $700 billion, according to Reuters.
According to the Forbes Billionaires Index, on Friday evening, December 19, Elon Musk’s net worth rose to $749 billion.
The surge followed a ruling by the Delaware Supreme Court, which overturned a lower-court decision that had invalidated Musk’s Tesla stock-option compensation package. The options are now valued at about $139 billion. Musk’s original 2018 compensation package had been estimated at $56 billion, but its value increased substantially over time. The court said the 2024 ruling that struck down the package was improper and unfair to the billionaire.
Earlier this week, Musk became the first person in history whose net worth exceeded $600 billion, following reports that his aerospace startup SpaceX may pursue an initial public offering.
In November, Tesla shareholders separately approved a $1 trillion compensation plan for Musk, the largest corporate pay package in history, backing his vision of transforming the electric-vehicle maker into a major player in artificial intelligence and robotics.
According to Forbes, Musk’s fortune now exceeds that of Larry Page, co-founder of Google, the world’s second-richest individual, by nearly $500 billion.
In 2024, Musk actively supported the election campaign of the current US president, Donald Trump. Shortly after Trump’s victory, Musk temporarily headed the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Despite the rise in his wealth ahead of the election, Musk later suffered significant losses after Trump took office. In April 2025, Trump announced sweeping tariffs that triggered a global market sell-off. As a result, the combined wealth of the world’s 500 richest people fell by $208 billion, with Musk hit the hardest, losing $110 billion.
