Billionaire Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, is edging closer to an unprecedented milestone — becoming the planet’s first trillionaire. According to Forbes magazine, Musk briefly achieved a net worth of $500 billion on Wednesday, marking a historic first.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO hit $500.1 billion before dipping slightly to $499.1 billion, based on the publication’s “Real-Time Billionaires” tracker. The surge comes as Tesla shares rebound following what has been described as Musk’s clumsy foray into politics, alongside other financial gains.
Elon Musk’s Journey From Early Ventures to Global Wealth
At 54 years old, Musk stands significantly ahead of his peers on the billionaire index. Ranked after him is Oracle co-founder and CEO Larry Ellison, whose net worth sits at $350.7 billion. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg follows in third place with $245.8 billion, according to the Forbes list.
Musk’s journey to the top began after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and briefly enrolling at Stanford University, which he soon left behind. He made his first millions in 1999 when he sold an online publishing software company to U.S. computer maker Compaq for over $300 million.
That success paved the way for his next venture, which eventually merged with PayPal. After departing from the payments company, the South African-born tech entrepreneur launched the space exploration firm SpaceX in 2002. Just two years later, in 2004, he became chairman of the electric carmaker Tesla, laying the foundation for his meteoric rise to global wealth.
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