Elon Musk Net Worth (Money & Assets)

Wealth: $216 Billion

Income: $0

Date of Birth: Jun 28, 1971 (53 years old)

Place of Birth: Pretoria

Gender: Male

Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

Occupation: Aerospace Engineer, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Investor, Designer, Businessperson, Inventor, Film Producer

Nationality: South Africa

The Total Worth of Elon Musk

Elon Musk is a businessman, creator, and financier born in South Africa and currently a Canadian-American citizen. His fortune amounts to $216 billion, making him the fourth wealthiest individual on the planet. In November 2021, when his assets briefly surpassed $340 billion, Elon exceeded John D. Rockefeller to become the most prosperous individual in current history. From January 2021 to March 2024, he retained the position of wealthiest person globally, except for a brief period when Jeff Bezos took over.

The majority of Elon Musk’s wealth originates from his ownership of 13% of shares in Tesla, totaling around 412 million shares. Additionally, he possesses 304 million exercisable options in Tesla, summing up to about 21% ownership of the company. Elon has utilized 58% of his Tesla shares as security for personal loans worth $3.5 billion and, in 2022, he traded $40 billion worth of Tesla shares to finance the acquisition of Twitter.

Elon is also a co-founder of SpaceX and the Boring Company and serves as SolarCity’s chairman. He holds a 43% share in privately-held SpaceX, which had a valuation of $180 billion during its last assessment. The Boring Company, evaluated during its last round at $5 billion, is another venture led by Elon.

In October 2022, Elon purchased Twitter for $44 billion, securing approximately 79% ownership while valuing the company at $44 billion. The private estimate of Twitter under his leadership has notably declined, potentially dropping to as low as $19 billion. To finance the Twitter deal, as mentioned earlier, Elon divested $40 billion worth of Tesla shares in 2022.

Payment & Compensation Plan of 2018

As the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk does not draw a regular salary. Instead, in 2018, Elon negotiated an unconventional and potentially highly beneficial bonus scheme linked to the firm’s market cap achievements. At the scheme’s inception, Tesla was valued close to $50 billion. In simplistic terms, as per the agreement, Elon was to receive sizable chunks of Tesla options, equivalent to 1% of the company, every time the market cap escalated by $50 billion and sustained the increase for at least three months. The initial set of options was granted once Tesla hit a market cap of $100 billion. For every subsequent $50 billion rise in market cap, Elon acquired another set of options, up to $600 billion. In essence, if Tesla’s market cap reached $600 billion, Elon would possess options equal to 12% of the company. He would have earned zero compensation if any of the 12 tranches were not achieved. Furthermore, the deal had a term limit of 10 years.

Tesla took one year to surpass the initial $100 billion threshold. Two years later, in December 2020, Tesla’s market cap surpassed the maximum $600 billion benchmark. Just a year later, it peaked at $1.23 trillion. At this juncture, Elon’s fortune reached $340 billion. Once the $600 billion milestone was reached in under a decade, Tesla’s board confirmed that Elon was entitled to the full merit of his compensation agreement. Consequently, he received nearly 300 million Tesla options, valued around $55 billion by January 2024. Unfortunately, this was not the end of the narrative for Elon.

Several investors were dissatisfied with his remuneration package. In a legal case, one investor contended that the package was excessively generous and was approved by a board of directors that Elon unfairly influenced. On January 30, 2024, a judge in Delaware AGREED with the investor, effectively annulling his entire compensation deal with the strike of a gavel. Elon possesses the option to appeal, which he likely will, but ultimately, the board will need to create a fresh compensation strategy for his achievements between 2018 and the conclusion of 2023.

Early Years

Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 28, 1971. At the age of ten, Musk purchased his first computer and self-taught programming skills. At 12, he made his initial software transaction selling a game he designed named Blaster. In 1989, when he was 17, he moved to Canada to start his studies at Queen’s University but left in 1992 to learn business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. Musk graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics, pursued another degree in physics, and later attempted a PhD in energy physics. However, he abandoned Stanford University to participate in the internet expansion.

Achievements

Elon Musk’s initial enterprise, Zip2 Corporation, operated as an online city guide. In 1999, a segment of Compaq Computer acquired Zip2 for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock picks. Concurrently in 1999, Musk co-established X.com, a firm catering to online financial services/payments. Following an acquisition by X.com the ensuing year, PayPal, as known currently, was created, leading to its sale in 2002 to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock.

In 2002, Musk initiated his third venture, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX), focusing on constructing spacecraft for commercial space travel. By 2008, SpaceX was firmly established, and NASA granted the corporation the contract to handle cargo transportation for the International Space Station, with future plans for astronaut conveyance.

Tesla Motors came next, a car manufacturer committed to manufacturing reasonably priced, widespread electric vehicles. The establishment of Tesla took place in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Elon, together with Ian Wright and J.B. Straubel, served as the initial staff members and later acknowledged as co-founders.

Daimler acquired a share in the corporation, and Tesla Motors initiated its IPO in June 2010, amassing $226 million. Musk and SpaceX marked a significant milestone in 2012 by launching the Falcon 9 rocket into space with an unmanned capsule. In 2013, he introduced a vision for an innovative transportation form known as the Hyperloop, designed for swift travel of over 700 mph between major cities. Different from traditional railways, the Hyperloop would utilize tubes for transportation. Musk anticipated that the Hyperloop’s implementation would take 7 to 10 years for construction, testing, and operational readiness.

Personal Life

Elon has been through three marriages, two of which were with the same individual – actress Talulah Riley. His marriage to Canadian writer Justine Wilson lasted from 2000 to 2008, during which they had five sons. Moreover, he has had romantic relationships with actress Amber Heard and Canadian singer Grimes. In May 2020, Elon and Grimes welcomed their baby boy named X Æ A-Xii. Subsequently, they had a second child via a surrogate in December 2021.

Notably, in late 2021, Elon also became a parent of twins born to one of his Neuralink executives.

He is a father of ten children in total.

In July 2022, it was disclosed that Elon Musk engaged in an extramarital affair with the spouse of Google co-founder Sergey Brin in December 2021. This affair led Sergey to file for divorce from his wife of four years, Nicole Shanahan. Unfortunately, Sergey had been one of Musk’s prominent advocates. He invested in several Musk enterprises, including being an early investor in Tesla.

Real Estate

Priorly, Elon possessed real estate valued at $100 million solely in California. In the Hillsborough town of Northern California, he still owns a century-old, 16,000-square-foot mansion situated on almost 50 acres. This property was acquired for $23.364 million in 2017.

In Southern California’s Los Angeles district of Bel-Air, he previously held six residences. Among these were a 20,000-square-foot property purchased for $17 million in 2012, a 7,000-square-foot house bought for $20 million in 2015, and a 9,300-square-foot residence acquired in 2016 for $24.25 million. In a surprising move in 2020, Elon declared his intention to divest all his possessions, beginning with his LA residences. Staying true to his announcement, he proceeded to sell each property. He sold four houses at once to a single buyer in December 2020.

Elon Musk Net Worth History

• By January 1, 2020, Elon’s wealth stood at $28 billion. He concluded 2020 with a total worth of $170 billion.
• On July 13, 2020, Elon achieved a net worth of $80 billion for the first time. Out of this, $15 billion stemmed from SpaceX, and $65 billion derived from Tesla.
• Elon’s wealth surpassed $90 billion for the first time in August 2020 due to two critical events. Firstly, in mid-August, Tesla stocks reached a record high of $1,900, resulting in a $70 billion value for his 20% stake given the company’s total market capitalization of $350 billion. Secondly, SpaceX’s valuation increase was officially confirmed on August 18, 2020. The funding round elevated SpaceX’s private valuation to $46 billion, up from $36 billion. Considering the $46 billion valuation, Elon’s 48% ownership added $22 billion to Elon’s wealth before taxes.
• On November 17, 2020, Elon’s net worth crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time. This achievement positioned him ahead of Mark Zuckerberg to become the world’s third-richest individual for the first instance.
• On November 24, 2020, Elon’s net worth surpassed $128 billion for the first time. At this stage, he moved past Bill Gates to claim the spot of the world’s second-wealthiest person for the first time. Subsequently, he trailed Jeff Bezos, who held a net worth of $184 billion, by $54 billion, marking a $100 billion surge in Elon’s wealth since January 1, 2020.
• On January 7, 2021, Elon’s net worth reached $195 billion, graciously overtaking Jeff Bezos as the wealthiest person globally for the first time.
• Following a successful week beginning with $170 billion, Elon ended January 8, 2021, with a net worth of $210 billion.
• When Tesla’s market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion, and SpaceX’s valuation reached $100 billion in October 2021, Elon’s wealth reached $300 billion.
• By November 1, 2021, when Tesla’s market cap surpassed $1.2 trillion, Elon Musk’s net worth hit $335 billion.
• Elon Musk lost his status as the world’s wealthiest person on December 13, 2022, when his net worth of $165 billion was outdone by Bernard Arnault’s $167 billion net worth.
• Elon wrapped up 2022 with assets worth $134 billion, marking a substantial $200 billion downturn compared to the previous year.
• Elon concluded 2023 with a fortune worth $210 billion.

Stats are from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, 2031, 2032, 2033, 2034, 2035, 2036, 2037, 2038, 2039, 2040, 2041, 2042, 2043, 2044, 2045, 2046, 2047, 2048, 2049, 2050.