Elon Musk is undeniably one of the most influential figures of our era. He is known for his key role in companies like SpaceX, Tesla, SolarCity and The Boring Company. Musk also made one of his most controversial acquisitions in 2022, when he bought Twitter for $44 billion and rebranded it as X the following year.
Musk’s net worth is $447 billion (£351.64 billion) according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index, making him the richest person in the world. Forbes estimates Elon Musk's net worth to be $433 billion (£340.7 billion).
Bloomberg reported that on 11 December, SpaceX investors agreed to buy $1.25 billion of insider shares, which has now valued the company at $350 billion. This move has increased the billionaire's net worth by around $50 billion, making Musk the first person in history to have ever crossed the $400 billion milestone.
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Musk is also on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to the Trillion Dollar Club’s 2024 report.
Musk backed Donald Trump in the 2024 US election. He has since solidified his spot not just as Trump’s “First Buddy” but also gained a spot in the White House. He’s been chosen as the co-lead for Trump’s newly planned Department of Government Efficiency.
We look at the various factors that led the Tesla CEO to where he is today.
How Elon Musk built his fortune
Born in South Africa in 1971, Musk exhibited a keen interest in technology and innovation from an early age, moving to the US at the age of 17 to attend college. His first major success came with Zip2, a company that provided online business directories and maps to newsletters – a novel concept at the time. In 1999, Compaq acquired Zip2 for nearly $300 million, paving the way for Musk into the tech industry.
Musk used his proceeds from the sale to launch X.com, an online payment platform that eventually evolved into PayPal. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion. That same year, Musk founded SpaceX to make space exploration more accessible, and with the particular aim to colonise Mars. SpaceX quickly emerged as a leader in the aerospace industry, launching satellites and resupply missions to the International Space Station. The company made history in October as it launched Starship – the world’s most powerful rocket, according to Politico.
In 2004, Musk joined Tesla Motors and became the company’s CEO four years later. Under his leadership, Tesla transformed into a trailblazer in the electric vehicle market. Tesla’s revenue jumped from $12 billion in 2017 to $54 billion in 2021. According to Forbes, Tesla’s stocks hit a four-month high in June, with its share price sitting at $214. The Trillion Dollar Club’s 2024 report reveals that Tesla has a market value of $669.3 billion, predicting that it could surpass $1 trillion by 2025 if its annual growth rate of 173.3% continues.
Beyond SpaceX and Tesla, Musk has diversified his ventures into other industries. He co-founded SolarCity, a solar panel installation firm that Tesla acquired in 2016. He also established The Boring Company, focused on developing underground transportation systems.
How Elon Musk created Tesla
Tesla's rise to the top of the automotive industry can be attributed to a variety of factors – the relentless focus on innovation, cutting-edge technology, and creating electric cars that surpassed anything else on the market.
Then there’s Tesla's marketing strategy. It generated significant buzz and excitement around its vehicles by positioning itself as a leader in sustainable transportation and gaining a loyal customer base looking for environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional petrol-powered cars.
With Tesla using artificial intelligence (AI), Musk was able to give a teaser into what people can expect from the company, even going so far as to tweet “the car has a mind”. More recently, Musk took to X and commented on a post stating Tesla could make its own AI chips.
Tesla’s cars are equipped with a range of advanced safety features, including collision avoidance systems and modern driver assistance features, which have established the company as a leader in the field of automotive safety. On 9 December, Deutsche Bank said Tesla aims to start a robotaxi service, with remote teleoperators as backups for its initial run in case anything goes wrong. The service is expected to launch next year, marking another significant milestone for the electric vehicle company.
What will Elon Musk’s role be in the White House?
Elon Musk has been tasked with another crucial role by incoming President Donald Trump. The businessman will look over the newly created Department of Government Efficiency alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump announced that Musk’s role would be to "dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies".
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