Elon Musk has become the first person to reach a net worth of $400 billion, the latest milestone for the world’s richest person.
The most recent catalyst was an insider share sale of his privately held SpaceX, which boosted Musk’s net worth by nearly $50 billion to $439.2 billion in one fell swoop, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Musk’s fortunes have changed dramatically since the end of 2022, when at one point he saw his net worth drop by more than $200 billion. But it has gained particular momentum since Donald Trump’s election victory last month, with Musk being his most prominent political donor and advocate.
Tesla Inc’s stock has surged nearly 65% ahead of the election, boosted by expectations that Trump will streamline the rollout of self-driving cars and eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles that help Tesla’s rivals. Musk is expected to play a key role in the new administration as co-head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, giving him an influential platform in Washington and a direct line to the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, the value of his artificial intelligence startup, Is.
On Wednesday, SpaceX and its investors agreed to buy $1.25 billion worth of shares from employees and other company insiders. The deal, which values the privately held space exploration firm at about $350 billion, makes SpaceX the world’s most valuable private startup.
What’s really strange about this is that almost no investors wanted to sell shares even at a $350B valuation!
SpaceX reduced the amount of shares it bought back from employees to allow some new investors.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 11 December 2024
The company makes most of its money on contracts with the US government, and could potentially rely on more support under the Trump administration. The president-elect praised Musk’s vision of sending astronauts to Mars in campaign speeches, and joined Musk at a SpaceX launch in Texas shortly after the election.
Trump’s choice to head NASA, Jared Isaacman, is a billionaire tech executive who performed the first commercial spacewalk on a chartered SpaceX launch in September. He praised the company last month as “the most innovative, really impressive organization I’ve ever seen” after investing $27.5 million in SpaceX through his payments firm in 2021.
Musk, 53, received bad news last week when a Delaware judge voided for the second time his 2018 Tesla pay package, currently worth more than $100 billion. Tesla said it would appeal the decision, which Musk described as “complete corruption” at X. Even if Musk’s compensation award is eventually withdrawn, he will still remain the world’s richest person for a long time.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
