Elon Musk became the first person to surpass a $700 billion net worth on Friday after the Delaware Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had invalidated his Tesla stock options, reinstating an award now valued at $139 billion.
Court ruling
Forbes had been valuing the Tesla stock options at a 50% discount since January 2024, when the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that the 2018 compensation package was unfair to shareholders due to Musk’s control over Tesla’s board.
Following Friday’s decision, Forbes removed the discount, boosting Musk’s net worth by $69.5 billion. As of December 21, Forbes estimates Musk’s net worth at $749 billion.
The record-setting valuation comes just days after Musk became the first person ever worth more than $600 billion.
Road to the first trillionaire
In addition to his stock options, the Tesla CEO owns about 12% of the company’s common stock, valued at roughly $199 billion, bringing the total value of his Tesla holdings to approximately $338 billion.
That figure does not include a separate compensation package Tesla awarded Musk in November, which could grant him up to $1 trillion in additional stock if the automaker meets aggressive performance targets, including increasing its market capitalization eightfold over the next decade.
Musk’s 42% stake in SpaceX is valued at an estimated $336 billion following a recent transaction earlier this month that priced the company at about $800 billion. With the rocket maker targeting an initial public offering (IPO) as early as 2026, SpaceX could eventually be valued at around $1.5 trillion—potentially making Musk the world’s first trillionaire.
Net worths
According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List, Musk’s net worth exceeds the combined wealth of the world’s next three richest people. Google co-founder Larry Page ($252.6 billion), Oracle founder Larry Ellison ($242.8 billion) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($239.4 billion) together are worth $734.8 billion—about $14.2 billion less than Musk.
