Few business leaders have been as deeply
embedded in popular culture as Elon Musk, the ambitious
entrepreneur who has become a central figure in internet culture
and amassed a fortune that has made him the world’s first
trillionaire.
At a time when concerns about inequality are high and public
attitudes toward the ultra-wealthy have soured, Musk has managed
to retain a loyal following despite his stratospheric net worth
and without the folksy persona that endeared other tycoons such
as Warren Buffett to the masses.
While admirers view Musk’s no-filter style as part of his
appeal, critics have accused him of wielding oligarch-like
power, raised concerns about governance at his companies and
objected to his increasingly partisan political interventions.
Still, SpaceX, the sprawling rocket, satellite and AI company
that together with electric-car maker Tesla form the center of
Musk’s empire, raised a record $75 billion in its initial public
offering on Thursday, highlighting investor enthusiasm for his
business ventures. Prior to the share sale, Forbes pegged his
net worth at roughly $780 billion, far ahead of the man next in
line, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page.
“The second richest person has been hovering around $300
billion, so about less than one-third of what Musk can
potentially be worth tomorrow,” said Matt Durot, deputy editor
at Forbes Wealth. “And only one other person, (Oracle founder)
Larry Ellison, has ever been worth $400 billion.”
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Most of Musk’s wealth now rests with SpaceX, where he holds
a stake worth roughly $866 billion. Along with Tesla and the
rest of his properties, his net worth will exceed $1.1 trillion
when the stock begins trading Friday, according to Forbes and
Reuters calculations based on company filings.
Musk became a household name through Tesla and SpaceX
before expanding his influence with the $44-billion acquisition
of social media platform Twitter in 2022. The deal gave him a
direct channel to hundreds of millions of users and made him a
prominent voice on issues ranging from politics and immigration
to government spending and free speech.
His move into politics, particularly his role in U.S. President
Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency last year,
has been among his most contentious ventures. The political
fallout coincided with weakening Tesla sales in several
international markets in 2025 as protests and consumer boycotts
targeted the electric vehicle maker.
THE ELON PREMIUM
Musk, 54, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian
mother and South African father. He attended the University of
Pennsylvania, graduating in 1997.
He took over as Tesla’s CEO in 2008 with the conviction that
electric vehicles could combine high performance with
software-driven features, helping redefine the global automotive
industry. Some auto-industry watchers say Tesla’s success – and
its trillion-dollar-plus market cap – helped prod traditional
automakers to pivot to electric cars.
Many investors are betting he can repeat the feat in space and
artificial intelligence. Yet SpaceX remains cash-hungry, and
much of the company’s valuation rests on technologies that may
take years or decades to become commercially viable.
Beyond Tesla and SpaceX, Musk has co-founded five other
companies, including tunneling startup The Boring Company and
brain implant maker Neuralink.
As CEO of Tesla, Musk has courted controversy and praise in
equal measure. He is credited with turning Tesla into the
world’s most valuable automaker. Executives at legacy automakers
dismissed the threat for years, skeptical that a startup car
company could figure out how to mass produce electric vehicles
profitably.
“He renewed the world’s respect for American ingenuity in
automotive engineering,” said Bob Lutz, a former General Motors
vice chairman.
At the same time, Tesla has faced legal challenges and
shareholder concerns tied to its storied CEO, particularly his
2018 pay package, once worth $56 billion.
Musk’s influence has become so pervasive that market
observers have dubbed the network of businesses around him the
“Muskonomy.”
The phenomenon has given rise to what some investors call the
“Elon premium,” a valuation boost driven as much by faith in
Musk’s vision as by traditional financial metrics.
“Much like Tesla, SpaceX is a bet on Elon Musk,” said Matt
Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider
of IPO-focused research and ETFs.
“A market cap of $1.5 trillion-$2 trillion would certainly
throw all traditional valuation methodologies out the window,
and is instead best characterized as the ‘Elon Musk premium.'”
MUSK UNFILTERED
The concentration of influence around a single entrepreneur
has amplified concerns about corporate governance, conflicts of
interest and the risks of tying company fortunes too closely to
one individual.
Over the years, Musk has turned clashes with regulators,
billionaires, short sellers, journalists and media
organizations, including Reuters, into recurring public battles
that often unfolded on social media.
Musk’s alliance with Trump followed a familiar pattern. After
helping bankroll Trump’s return to the White House and serving
in a senior advisory role through the administration’s DOGE
initiative, Musk became one of the president’s closest corporate
allies.
The relationship later fractured amid disagreements over
policy and spending, spilling into a public feud. Though the two
have since struck a more conciliatory tone, their falling-out
highlighted the increasingly blurred lines between Musk’s
business empire and political ambitions.
Yet for many investors, concerns about Musk’s often
unconventional behavior are outweighed by his track record of
turning ambitious ideas into some of the world’s most valuable
companies.
“Elon is the Edison of our time,” JPMorgan Chase CEO
Jamie Dimon said during a recent conversation with Musk.
The banker, a former adversary of Musk in a prolonged legal
battle, has since become an admirer. Dimon told CNBC last year
that the pair had “hugged it out,” and hailed Musk as “our
Einstein.”