Elon Musk, the world's wealthiest individual, has achieved another historic milestone by becoming the first person to reach a net worth of $400 billion. Bloomberg News attributes this unprecedented rise to the soaring valuations of his companies, Tesla and SpaceX.
Tesla's stock hit an all-time high of $415 on Wednesday, December 11, boosting Musk's estimated net worth to approximately $440 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Earlier in the week, SpaceX's valuation surged following a private share sale, raising the company's market capitalization to about $350 billion. With Musk holding a 42% stake, SpaceX is now the world's most valuable private startup.
At the same time, Musk's artificial intelligence company, x.AI, has seen its valuation more than double since raising $50 billion in May. The Wall Street Journal reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s recent election victory spurred renewed investor interest, further contributing to Musk’s expanding wealth.
Musk's companies are expected to benefit from his perceived alignment with Trump’s policies, which many investors believe could favor innovative and tech-forward businesses.
Despite his immense financial success, Musk is embroiled in a legal dispute over a Tesla pay package now valued at more than $100 billion. Earlier this month, a judge reaffirmed the rejection of the compensation plan, which had been previously approved by Tesla shareholders. Musk labeled the ruling as “absolute corruption,” and Tesla announced plans to appeal the decision.
Even without the contested pay package, Musk remains the richest individual globally, well ahead of Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg.
