Elon Musk is halfway to making history as the world’s first trillionaire, according to Forbes.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss briefly crossed the $500 billion net worth mark on Wednesday, driven by a rebound in Tesla’s share price after months of political distractions and strong gains across his empire.
Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires Tracker reported Musk’s wealth peaked at $500.1 billion before settling at $499.1 billion, keeping him firmly atop the global rich list.
Trailing far behind are Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, worth $350.7 billion, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg at $245.8 billion.
The 54-year-old billionaire, who studied at the University of Pennsylvania and briefly at Stanford University, first made his fortune in 1999 when he sold his online publishing software company to Compaq for over $300 million.
He went on to co-found the venture that became PayPal, before launching SpaceX in 2002 and joining Tesla as chairman in 2004 — two moves that would redefine his legacy and reshape entire industries.
With Tesla’s recovery and SpaceX’s valuation soaring, Musk’s journey to the trillionaire mark looks more like a matter of when than if.