OPINION | What’s Next For Elon Musk — The World’s First Half-Trillionaire
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia
Elon Musk is the world’s first person to obtain a $500 billion net worth, a representation of how the world’s elite dominate more and more of the economy with every passing year. According to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires tracker, Musk reached this staggering net worth on Oct. 1.
This milestone breaks Musk's previous record of being the first person to have a $400 billion net worth. He has been gaining a steady rise in wealth ever since his public shift away from the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a group started by US President Donald Trump and led by Musk that aims to assist with cutting costs within the US government.
Musk’s most recent wealth increase stems from a large rise in the Tesla stock price, which he owns around 13 per cent of, generating him $191 billion in wealth as of Oct 1. Alongside that, as of August 2025, SpaceX, Musk’s space technology company, has added $168 billion to his wealth due to his 42 per cent ownership. Additionally, his artificial intelligence and social media company, xAI, provides Musk with another $60 billion, as of Oct 2.
Wealth from those massive companies, along with many other smaller sources of net worth, have elevated him to this insane milestone. In fact, his wealth has increased over 20 times since March 2020, a testament to the current rapid growth of wealth in the world’s richest people.
With such immense wealth, many wonder what plans Musk has for his money and his future.
There is decent evidence that Musk is gearing up to be the first person to become a trillionaire. Last September, Tesla approved a nearly $1 trillion pay package for him within 10 years if its market cap can increase by eight times. If Musk were to earn this, signs point to him aiming to use his wealth to be a leader in the AI industry
With his ownership of Twitter, which he renamed X, and his entrance into the AI industry in November 2023 with the launch of Grok, a chatbot built by xAI, he now has control over a large social media platform and an AI technology company. From this comes the risk that he might use these large platforms to promote any of his future endeavours.
On the other hand, he could also use his immense amount of money to invest further in his space projects with SpaceX. While it would take a long time to generate a large return on his investment, the usefulness of space travel is bound to become a significant tool for humanity many decades into the future, which he may even live to be a part of.
Finally, Musk has shown interest in owning 25 per cent of Tesla, currently owning only 13 per cent, in order to have more voting power and influence on shareholder decisions. “I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25 per cent voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned,” said Musk in a post on his X page. According to CNN, there is a current shareholder proposal for Tesla to invest in xAI.
Musk’s urge for more control may be why Musk moved Twitter under xAI instead of Tesla, as he owns 53 per cent of xAI. If Musk can reach his goal to own 25 per cent of Tesla’s shares, he could buy more companies under Tesla, which would grant him more Tesla pay packages. Billionaires like Musk, who may soon be a trillionaire, often scheme elaborate plans like these to keep their massive wealth.