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At the start of 2020, Elon Musk’s net worth was estimated at around $28 billion. Fast forward eight months, Tesla’s soaring stock prices had propelled his wealth to $57 billion, making him the fourth wealthiest person globally at that time. However, in today’s financial landscape, a $57 billion net worth would barely secure a spot in the top 30.
By the end of 2020, Musk’s fortune had skyrocketed to $136 billion, allowing him to surpass Bill Gates and claim the title of the world’s second-richest individual, just behind Jeff Bezos. This was merely a prelude to what came next. Over the subsequent year, Musk’s net worth took an unprecedented leap. On November 4, 2021, his wealth reached $340 billion, surpassing the inflation-adjusted fortune of John D. Rockefeller, breaking a record that stood for nearly 80 years.
What ensued was a period of remarkable volatility. By January 2023, Musk’s net worth had plummeted to around $130 billion, only to climb sharply again during late 2024 and early 2025. During this rollercoaster ride, Musk became the first individual ever to see his wealth eclipse $300 billion, then $350 billion, $400 billion, $450 billion, and $500 billion. Now, following a dramatic new valuation of SpaceX, he has surpassed another staggering milestone. As of this writing, Elon Musk’s net worth is approximately $640 billion, marking him as the first person to exceed the $600 billion mark.
(Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
$800 Billion SpaceX Valuation
Before today’s announcement, SpaceX already held the distinction of being the most valuable private company globally. However, its valuation has now reached an even more astonishing peak.
Previously, the valuation of Musk’s rocket and satellite enterprise stood at $400 billion. At this level, Musk’s estimated 43% ownership stake translated into about $172 billion on paper, not accounting for the typical liquidity discounts applied to private companies.
Earlier today, it emerged that SpaceX insiders sold shares at a valuation of roughly $800 billion, effectively doubling the company’s paper valuation and resetting the benchmark for its worth.
The transaction cements SpaceX not only as the world’s most valuable private company, but also as one of the most valuable companies of any kind, public or private. And we might just be getting started.
SpaceX is reportedly in the process of preparing for an IPO sometime in 2026. The target valuation at the IPO? $1.5 trillion. Let’s say Elon experiences some dilution before. Let’s say at the IPO, his stake is just 35%. At that level, his SpaceX shares would be worth $525 billion.
At today’s $800 billion valuation, Musk’s 43% SpaceX stake is worth $344 billion on paper. When combined with his $250 billion stake in Tesla, $35 billion stake in xAI, and various other ventures, Elon’s net worth now sits at $640 billion.
Elon is BY FAR the richest person in human history and the richest person in the world. He is $375 billion richer than Larry Page, the second-richest person on earth, with a net worth of $265 billion.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Next Up, World’s First Trillionaire?
I have to be honest. Seeing “$640 billion” next to Elon’s name on his CelebrityNetWorth profile page almost looks fake. How can that really be a single human being’s personal fortune? And yet, here we are. Based on the trajectory of his fortune, it is no longer unreasonable to think Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire. In a separate analysis, we laid out a very realistic path showing Elon could become a trillionaire without requiring anything truly absurd to happen.
To put the scale of this moment in perspective, when I launched CelebrityNetWorth in 2008, the richest person in the world was Warren Buffett. At the time, Buffett’s world-leading fortune was about $62 billion. Seventeen years later, Elon Musk’s net worth is more than ten times larger than that figure.
Which raises an uncomfortable but fascinating question. If this is what the top of the wealth pyramid looks like today, what will it look like 17 years from now? By the end of 2042, will the richest person on Earth be a 71-year-old Elon Musk with a fortune measured in multiple trillions? Or will it be someone we haven’t even heard of yet, sitting atop an even more unreal-sounding number?
One thing feels increasingly clear. The era of the trillionaire no longer sounds theoretical. It sounds inevitable.
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