Elon Musk is half-way to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. The Tesla chief’s fortune touched $500billion (£375billion) this week, according to Forbes, publisher of the World Billionaires List.
Musk is the first person to hit the milestone. Speculation is mounting that he will reach the $1trillion mark in coming years. However, he suffered a setback yesterday as his rocket company SpaceX lost its crown as the world’s most valuable start-up.
OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool, was valued at £375billion in a deal that saw past and current employees sell £5billion of shares. SpaceX was last valued at £300billion in July. Nevertheless, Tesla’s share price recovery has seen Musk’s wealth soar in recent weeks.
Musk owns 12 per cent of Tesla, which has a market capitalisation of just over £1trillion, making it the world’s most valuable car maker. The shares have doubled in value since March, though a slump in early 2025 means that they are up just 13 per cent so far this year.
The sell-off at the start of the year came as Musk faced a backlash over a foray into politics that saw him join President Donald Trump’s administration as head of the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge. Investors feared that his political activity was proving a distraction to focusing on the business, while Tesla also faced increasingly fierce competition from Chinese rivals.
Musk quit his job at Trump’s side in May and has since vowed to dedicate more time to Tesla, helping the shares bounce back. And last month he was offered a new pay deal by the Tesla board worth up to $1trillion over the next decade if certain targets are hit.
Musk’s business interests extend beyond Tesla and SpaceX, however. His artificial intelligence start-up xAI is said to be worth £150billion. He also owns X, formerly known as Twitter, tunnelling group The Boring Company and Neuralink, which implants computer chips in the brain.
Musk was briefly unseated as the world’s richest person last month by Larry Ellison, the founder of database management company Oracle. However, according to Forbes, Ellison’s fortune now stands at £260billion.
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