Elon Musk Becomes First Person Worth $500 Billion — Forbes

Elon Musk has officially become the first person in history with a net worth surpassing $500 billion. According to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires Tracker, as of Wednesday’s market close his fortune stood at $500 billion, $150 billion ahead of runner-up Larry Ellison. This milestone places Musk halfway toward becoming the world’s first trillionaire. 

Source Forbes

The surge is largely driven by Tesla shares, which rose nearly 4%, adding almost $9.3 billion to Musk’s fortune in a single day. Tesla has also proposed a record-breaking compensation package that could deliver Musk an additional $1 trillion in stock if long-term performance goals are achieved. Beyond Tesla, SpaceX — now valued at $400 billion — and xAI, merged with Twitter in 2022, play major roles in his growing wealth.

Reaching the $500 billion mark is the latest in a string of records Musk has set over the past five years. In 2020, he became the fifth person worth $100 billion, in 2021 he became the world’s richest person at $190 billion, later that year the first to surpass $200 billion, and in 2024 the first to cross $400 billion. If the current pace continues, Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire by March 2023.