Quick Links
Elon Musk, a name synonymous with innovation and brilliance, is a business magnate, investor, and the richest man in the world. As of 2023, Elon Musk has a colossal net worth of $254 billion at the time of this article’s writing.
Starting his journey in the technology industry at the young age of 12, he developed a video game, which he sold for $500.
After abandoning his pursuit of a Ph.D. at Stanford University, Musk borrowed $28,000 from his father and created his first company, Zip2, alongside his brother. The company, an online city guide licensed to newspapers, would prove to be a huge success as Musk would rake in $22 million as his share from selling the company in 1999 to Compaq for a total of $341 million in cash and stock.
He would later start the company now known as Paypal, an online payment service worth $62.76 billion as of October 17, 2023. After being forced out as CEO in the early 2000s, Musk would accept $165 million when eBay acquired the service in 2002.
Elon Musk SpaceX
With hundreds of millions to his name, Musk would find himself on a risky venture in the aerospace industry. In 2002, he created SpaceX with the aim of revolutionizing the industry and introducing commercial spaceflight. SpaceX would succeed in its mission, building the first and only fully reusable spacecraft with a methane rocket engine, becoming the industry titan in spaceflight technology.
Not only are the spacecrafts fully reusable, but they’re on average 10 times cheaper to construct than NASA's. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy, which costs $1,400 per kg to construct, is 700 times cheaper than Vanguard, the first family of NASA’s rockets, and 4 times cheaper than the infamous Saturn V, the rocket used in the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing.
This caught NASA’s attention, as the American Space Agency would award SpaceX with a $1.6 Billion deal in 2008. In 2022 alone, NASA awarded SpaceX with a $2 billion contract, almost 10% of the agency's overall $24 billion budget. The contract’s value saw a 25% increase from $1.5 billion in 2021, ranking SpaceX’s share the highest among competitors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
According to Forbes, SpaceX is worth almost $150 billion as of 2023, quintupling its value in just four years.
Elon Musk Tesla
In 2004, Elon Musk found himself investing $6.5 million into Tesla Motors, the world’s leading electric car company today, named after renowned inventor Nikola Tesla.
Tesla, which was valued at over $1 trillion in 2021, introduced the Roadster in 2006, an electric car that could travel 245 miles (394 km) on a single charge. With its sleek design, the Roadster, priced at $200,000, provided sports car performance, with a 0 to 60 mph acceleration speed in just under 4 seconds.
The company would then release the Model S sedan in 2012, which received high praise from the automotive industry. From there, they would release the Model X SUV in 2015, which further boosted the company’s reputation and garnered more appraisal from automotive critics.
However, it would be in 2017 that the Model 3 went into production, and thanks to its stellar performance and relatively affordable price tag, would become the best-selling electric car of all time.
As of October 2023, Tesla is worth $766.07 billion, ranking as the 8th most valuable company in the world.
Tesla net worth by year:
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2012 |
$3,950,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2013 |
$18,470,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2014 |
$27,620,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2015 |
$30,770,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2016 |
$30,820,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2017 |
$51,680,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2018 |
$54,960,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2019 |
$81,070,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2020 |
$658,150,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2021 |
$1,042,340,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2022 |
$385,460,000,000 |
|
Tesla Net Worth in 2023 |
$766,000,000,000 |
Elon Musk X (Formerly Twitter)
In 2022, Elon Musk would make a move to acquire Twitter, one of social media’s leading companies. This came after multiple rumors and speculations caused by tweets from Musk himself. However, this deal did not come without legal battles, as Musk accused Twitter of withholding information on bot accounts, and claimed Twitter violated multiple provisions of their contract.
After lengthy court battles, Musk would eventually buy out Twitter for a staggering $44 billion, making him the sole owner of the social media platform. Since the company’s acquisition, Musk has rebranded the platform to X, firing over half the company’s employees in an effort to make the financially struggling company successful.
Despite the large sum Musk paid for Twitter, the platform is only worth $15 billion as of 2023.
X Net Worth by Year:
|
X Net Worth in 2013 |
$39,340,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2014 |
$23,420,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2015 |
$15,330,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2016 |
$11,440,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2017 |
$18,000,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2018 |
$22,900,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2019 |
$24,610,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2020 |
$42,660,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2021 |
$34,470,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2022 |
$44,000,000,000 |
|
X Net Worth in 2023 |
$15,000,000,000 |
Elon Musk Net Worth by Year
Watching Musk’s net worth grow over the past decade, one can see the dedication and effort he’s put into building his $254 billion empire. However, it was in 2021 that his already colossal fortune of $24.6 billion skyrocketed to $151 billion, and to $254 billion in the past two years.
Forbes, which has tracked Musk’s net worth since 2014 showcases this phenomenal growth.
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2014 |
$8,400,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2015 |
$12,000,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2016 |
$10,700,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2017 |
$13,900,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth In 2018 |
$19,900,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2019 |
$22,300,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2020 |
$24,600,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2021 |
$151,000,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2022 |
$219,000,000,000 |
|
Elon Musk Net Worth in 2023 |
$254,000,000,000 |
Elon Musk Car Collection:
Many might think that Musk’s collection consists of only Teslas, but the richest man on the planet does have a taste for the beauty and performance gasoline-powered cars have to offer. His 1997 McLaren F1 alone costs more than some of the mansions millionaires can afford, demanding a $12 million price tag.
While most of Musk’s car collection consists mostly of classics like the 1976 Lotus Esprit, the car from The Spy Who Loved Me and worth $1 million, he’s made a rare exception for his 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo, and of course, his Teslas.
|
Car |
1920 Ford Model T |
$15,000 |
|
Car |
1978 BMW 320i |
$16,600 |
|
Car |
2010 Audi Q7 |
$48,000 |
|
Car |
2020 Tesla Cybertruck |
$69,900 |
|
Car |
1967 Jaguar E-Type Convertible |
$110,000 |
|
Car |
2006 Hamann BMW M5 |
$111,200 |
|
Car |
2019 Tesla Model S Performance |
$119,990 |
|
Car |
2012 Porsche 911 Turbo |
$137,500 |
|
Car |
2008 Tesla Roadster |
$200,000 |
|
Car |
1976 Lotus Esprit |
$1,000,000 |
|
Car |
1997 McLaren F1 |
$12,000,000 |
