GistReel
According to Forbes, Elon Musk was the first person in the world to reach a net worth of $300 billion in 2021; $400 billion 2024; $500 billion in October 2025; $600 billion in mid-December 2025; $700 billion later that month; $800 billion in February 2026; and $900 billion and a projected $1 trillion ($1000 billion) in June 2026 with SpaceX’s initial public offering.
Musk’s Tesla pay plan, worth up to $1 trillion, was approved in November 2025, and he will receive it over 10 years, provided he meets certain goals.
What is Elon Musk Net Worth?
Elon Musk is the world’s wealthiest person, with a verified net worth of US$971 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and $982 billion according to Forbes as of June 2026, primarily due to his ownership stakes in SpaceX and Tesla.
Musk first appeared on the Forbes Billionaires List in 2012, and by November 2020, Tesla stock accounted for more than 75% of his net worth, despite his self-description as “cash poor”.
Elon Musk Sources of Wealth
In November 2020, Tesla stock accounted for around 75% of Musk’s fortune, which had dropped to about 37% by December 2022, after the business sold nearly $40 billion in shares since late 2021.
Musk does not get a salary from Tesla; in 2018, he agreed with the board on a compensation scheme that links his personal earnings to Tesla’s valuation and revenue.
The agreement dictated that Musk would only get remuneration if Tesla reached particular market levels. It was the largest transaction ever conducted between a CEO and a company board.
In the first reward, awarded in May 2020, he was eligible to purchase 1.69 million Tesla shares (about 1% of the firm) at below-market prices, totaling over $800 million.
In January 2024, Delaware Judge Kathaleen McCormick ruled in a 2018 lawsuit that Musk’s $55 billion Tesla salary deal should be revoked. McCormick described the pay awarded by the company’s board as “an unfathomable sum” that was unfair to shareholders.
In response to the verdict, Musk wrote on X, “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware.”
A re-ratification shareholders’ vote passed in mid-June 2024, agreeing to move Tesla’s incorporation from Delaware to Texas, though follow-up litigation is expected, including a lawsuit filed earlier by a Tesla investor who claimed Musk used “coercive tactics” to swing the vote in his favor. In December 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court overturned McCormick’s judgment, reinstated Musk’s pay package, and awarded $1 in nominal damages.
How did Elon Musk make his Wealth?
Elon Musk earned $175.8 million when PayPal was sold to eBay in October 2002. He first appeared on the Forbes Billionaires List in 2012, with a net worth of $2 billion.
Musk paid $455 million in taxes on $1.52 billion in earnings between 2014 and 2018. According to ProPublica, a nonprofit investigative media group, Musk did not pay any federal income taxes in 2018. He indicated that his 2021 tax payment was anticipated at $12 billion, based on the sale of $14 billion in Tesla stock.
Musk has consistently defined himself as “cash poor” and has “professed to have little interest in the material trappings of wealth”. In May 2020, he pledged to sell practically all of his tangible assets. Musk has justified his fortune, claiming that he is stockpiling resources for humanity’s progress into space.
At the beginning of 2020, Musk’s net worth was $27 billion. By the end of the year, his net worth had risen by $150 billion, thanks primarily to his holding of around 20% of Tesla stock.
During this time, Musk’s net worth was frequently unpredictable. For example, on September 8, it fell $16.3 billion, the greatest single-day decrease in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ever at the time.
Musk became the world’s third-richest person in November of that year, passing Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg; a week later, he surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the second-richest.
On January 7, 2021, Musk, with a net worth of $285 billion, surpassed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person. Bezos recovered the top place on February 16, 2021.
On September 27, 2021, after Tesla stock rose, Forbes reported that Musk had a net worth of more than $190 billion and was the world’s richest person.
In November 2021, Musk became the first individual to have a net worth of more than $300 billion.
Musk’s net worth was reduced by $100 billion on December 30, 2022, making him the first person in history to do so, as certified by Guinness World Records in January 2023.
On December 13, 2022, Bernard Arnault’s net worth surpassed Musk’s, making Musk the second-wealthiest individual. Musk reclaimed the title on June 1, 2023.
In January 2024, Musk became the world’s second-wealthiest person after Bernard Arnault’s net worth surpassed his, but Musk’s net worth quickly surpassed Arnault’s again.
On March 5, 2024, Bezos momentarily surpassed Musk as the world’s richest person (until March 7, when Arnault surpassed Bezos). From May 28 to June 6, 2024, Musk surpassed Arnault again.
Arnault regained the lead on June 6, 2024, but Bezos overtook him on June 11, 2024. Musk topped the list beginning on June 18, 2024, and remained there until a brief interruption in 2025.
Elon Musk net worth skyrocketed following the 2024 US presidential election, and in December 2024, he became the first individual with a net worth of more than $400 billion.
The federal government of the United States, SpaceX’s principal customer, has signed contracts worth $20 billion by November 2024.
Musk’s affiliation with the second Trump administration sparked controversy, causing his net worth to plummet by $126 billion between December 2024 and March 2025.
On September 10, 2025, Larry Ellison’s net worth momentarily (for a few hours) eclipsed Musk’s, making Musk the world’s second-wealthiest person.
Musk is expected to become the first individual with a certified net worth of more than $1 trillion ($1,000 billion) when SpaceX goes public on June 12, 2026.