Elon Musk shatters records as net worth tops US$400 billion
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Tesla shares rallied to an all-time high on Dec 11, pushing Mr Elon Musk’s fortune to US$447 billion (S$601 billion).
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
NEW YORK – Mr Elon Musk, whose wealth has been turbocharged since Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November, became the first person to reach US$400 billion (S$538 billion) in net worth, the latest milestone for the world’s richest individual.
The most recent catalyst was an insider share sale of his privately held SpaceX, which boosted Mr Musk’s net worth by roughly US$50 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Tesla shares also rallied to an all-time high on Dec 11, pushing Mr Musk’s fortune to US$447 billion.
Mr Musk’s one-day wealth jump of US$62.8 billion is the largest on record, and helped propel the combined fortunes of the world’s richest 500 people above US$10 trillion, also for the first time, according to the index.
The group’s net worths are similar in size to 2023’s combined gross domestic products of Germany, Japan and Australia, according to data compiled by the World Bank.
Mr Musk has added about US$218 billion to his net worth since the start of 2024, more than any other member of the group.
Tesla shares, which make up the bulk of Mr Musk’s fortune, have gained 71 per cent in 2024 and closed on Dec 11 at US$424.77, their first record high since 2021.
Expectations that Trump will streamline the roll-out of self-driving cars and eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles that help the company’s competitors helped buoy Tesla’s stock.
Mr Musk is also slated to occupy a key role in the new administration as co-head of the new Department of Government Efficiency. While it will work outside the government, it gives him a bully pulpit in Washington and a direct line to the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, the value of his artificial intelligence start-up, xAI, has more than doubled to US$50 billion since it last raised money in May, with the Wall Street Journal reporting in November that Trump’s election victory helped drive new interest.
On Dec 11, SpaceX and its investors agreed to buy US$1.25 billion of shares from staff and other company insiders. The deal, which values the privately held space exploration firm at about US$350 billion, makes SpaceX the world’s most valuable private start-up.
The company makes most of its money from contracts with the US government, and can likely depend on more support under a Trump administration.
Trump lauded Mr Musk’s vision of putting astronauts on Mars in campaign speeches, and joined Mr Musk at a SpaceX launch in Texas shortly after the election.
Mr Jared Isaacman, Trump’s pick for Nasa head
He praised the company as “the most innovative, literally impressive organisation that I’ve ever seen” in November after investing US$27.5 million in SpaceX through his payments firm in 2021.
Mr Musk, 53, was handed a piece of bad news last week when a Delaware judge struck down his 2018 Tesla pay package
Tesla said it would appeal the decision, which Mr Musk described as “absolute corruption” on X.
Even if Mr Musk’s compensation award is ultimately clawed back, he would still be the world’s richest person by a long shot. BLOOMBERG
