Elon Musk becomes first person to reach $500 billion net worth

Elon Musk has officially become the first person in history to reach a net worth of $500 billion. The entrepreneur achieved this impressive mark on Wednesday, fueled by a powerful rally in Tesla shares and skyrocketing valuations of his private companies.

According to Forbes, Musk, who in December became the first person with a fortune at or above $400 billion, leads by $150 billion to the second, Larry Ellison, and is halfway to becoming the world's first trillionaire.

Tesla shares rose nearly 4% on Wednesday, the finance trade magazine reported, adding about $9.3 billion to the fortune of the also owner of SpaceX.

The electric vehicle maker's share price has nearly doubled since the entrepreneur announced in April that he would step down from his role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to devote more time to Tesla.

With Tesla's market capitalization back to within 10% of the all-time high it reached in December, Forbes claimed that Musk's 12% stake in the company is now worth $191 billion.

It's not about compensation, it's about security

In September, the entrepreneur wrote on X that it's not about compensation, but that he can have enough influence over Tesla to "ensure safety" if millions of robots are built. Also, Musk said he was not comfortable if in the future he could be ousted by "activist shareholder" advisory firms that don't even own stock in Tesla.

Musk could be the world's first Trillionaire

The entrepreneur also owns an estimated 42% stake in SpaceX worth $168 billion, to which he adds xAI Holdings, which Musk formed in March, when he merged his new artificial intelligence company xAI with the social networking company he acquired in 2022, X (formerly Twitter), in a deal that valued the combined company at $113 billion. The tycoon owns an estimated 53% stake in xAI Holdings worth $60 billion.

Forbes asserted that if Musk continues at this pace he could become the world's first trillionaire by March 2033, when the first of two vesting dates of his $1 trillion pay package for Tesla arrives. Musk ended Wednesday worth an estimated $499.1 billion.