Elon Musk has shattered the record books to become Planet Earth’s first-ever quintillionaire, worth an extraordinary $500 billion.
The tech magnate crossed the $500 billion mark mid-afternoon in New York before his net worth dipped back to $499.1 billion, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires index. But it looks almost certain he will cross the half-trillion-dollar threshold again very soon and remain above it for some time.
The world’s first quintillionaire is now $150 billion ahead of the next richest man, Larry Ellison, who suddenly shot up to second spot in the global wealth rankings. In September, Ellison, who holds a 41 per cent stake in Oracle, gained $100 billion in a single day, taking his fortune to $350.7 billion, according to the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, after the software giant’s shares soared more than 35 per cent on news that Oracle had secured a staggering $455 billion in future AI and cloud services contracts.
Musk’s surge came as Tesla shares accelerated sharply, rising by more than $9 billion or 4 per cent in value on the day. The South African-born entrepreneur, already the world’s richest individual by a wide margin, has had an extraordinary 2025.
His net worth initially climbed because investors believed his closeness to US President Donald Trump would boost his businesses. The relationship soured after Musk fell out with Trump and left government advisory roles, briefly denting his valuations. But Tesla stock rebounded strongly as investors grew confident that Musk would focus more energy on the company, which faces stiff competition from Chinese electric vehicle giants such as BYD.
Musk’s wealth is also powered by his 42 per cent stake in SpaceX, now worth an astronomical $168 billion. SpaceX’s valuation has skyrocketed on the back of its Starlink satellite project: its 6,750 satellites already circle the Earth providing communications services. The company has authorisation to launch 12,000, and Musk has set his sights on a staggering 40,000 satellites in orbit, a move designed to cement dominance in the global communications market.
Another jewel in the Musk empire is xAI Holdings, valued at $113 billion. The company was created by merging Musk’s artificial intelligence venture with X (formerly Twitter). His 53 per cent stake in xAI is currently worth about $60 billion.
As Musk and Ellison race ahead, the rest of the billionaire elite are far behind. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg holds third place with $245.8 billion, followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos at $233.5 billion. Google’s Larry Page just crosses the $200 billion mark with $203.7 billion.
Musk’s wealth trajectory over the past five years has been staggering. In March 2020 he was worth only $24.6 billion. By August of that year, Tesla’s stock surge had propelled him past $100 billion. In January 2021, just five months later, he became the world’s richest man with $190 billion. His fortune hit $300 billion by November 2021. The upward march continued after Trump’s December 2024 election victory, which proved a multiplier for Musk’s fortunes, pushing him to $400 billion.
India and Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is currently worth $101.5 billion, placing him 19th on the Forbes list. Coming up behind him in second spot on the Forbes list of richest Indians is Gautam Adani, worth about $69.2 billion. Other Indian billionaires in the global top ranks include Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies, with a fortune of around $34 billion, and steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, worth roughly $18 billion.
The global wealth leaderboard is now dominated by US tech magnates, who occupy eight of the top 10 spots. They have been propelled upward by a booming Nasdaq, which has more than doubled in the past five years, climbing 106 per cent from 11,742 to today’s 22,853.
Musk has also struck a landmark deal with Tesla that could propel him even further into the stratosphere. Under the agreement, he will receive up to $1 trillion worth of shares by 2033 if the company meets a series of extraordinarily tough targets, including making driverless cars an everyday reality. If he succeeds, Musk could become the world’s first-ever trillionaire.
Already, his fortune exceeds the annual GDPs of countries such as New Zealand, South Africa, and even Pakistan. One estimate suggests Musk’s wealth is greater than that of 140 nations worldwide.