Share your thoughts on Elon Musk is one of the richest people in the world and is also the CEO of various renowned companies. Under his leadership, these companies made a major impact in various sectors and cemented his name as a visionary.
By Joseph White
Published July 26, 2024
Elon Musk is a South African-born entrepreneur, inventor, and visionary known for his groundbreaking work in the fields of electric vehicles, space exploration, and sustainable energy. He currently stands as one of the richest people in the world which is largely fueled by the list of ventures he started or dived in recent years.
Moreover, Elon Musk has expanded his involvement in artificial intelligence, demonstrating a multifaceted approach to its development and application. This move comes amid Musk's legal actions against OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT, indicating his determination to shape the landscape of AI technology, which according to many is going to be the largest sector in the future.
Net Worth | $251.6 billion |
---|---|
Salary | N/A |
Date of Birth | June 28, 1971 |
Place of Birth | Pretoria, South Africa |
Gender | Male |
Height | 5' 7" |
Profession | Businessman |
Nationality | American and South African |
No. of Houses | 5 |
No. of Cars | 11+ |
As of July 2024, Elon Musk has a net worth of $251.6 billion.
He is currently the richest person in the world according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaire's List and stands ahead of Jeff Bezos & Bernard Arnault. The majority of his wealth comes from the ownership stakes in SpaceX and Tesla, both of which have seen significant growth in recent years.
He currently holds 20.5% equity in Tesla, which is calculated to be 411.06 million shares and 303.96 million exercisable options. This equals an estimated $77 billion in shares and $49.8 billion in options, totaling to around $127 billion.
Furthermore, Elon owns 42% of the privately owned SpaceX, which currently holds a value of $180 billion. He owns a 42% stake in the company, which translates to $71.2 billion.
In 2022, Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion which he later renamed to X, and currently owns a 74% stake in the company. He also owns a $3.3 billion stake in The Boring Company. Besides these companies, he is also known to own stakes at Neuralink and SolarCity.
In 1996, Elon Musk co-founded a web software company, Zip2. Three years later, the company was acquired by Compaq for nearly $300 million.
Elon Musk's journey toward fame has been attributed to a series of impactful periods and accomplishments that are explained in detail down below.
The founding of Space X: In 2002, Musk founded Space Exploration Technology Corp. or Space X, and injected a good sum of his capital to research and develop technology to reduce the cost of space exploration and colonize Mars. From almost getting bankrupt after a few unsuccessful missions to developing the first commercial vehicle to dock the International Space Station in 2012, this company slowly revolutionized the space industry, and Musk's future vision for it further turned Space X into a leading aerospace manufacturer.
Musk's Space X is developing a starship with an aim to colonise Mars, and also make space travel more affordable.
Elon Musk's investment portfolio extends far beyond SpaceX and Tesla, encompassing a diverse array of ventures spanning various industries. Here are some notable examples:
X: One of his most famous recent acquisitions was X (formerly Twitter). The whole acquisition process took more than 6 months. He ended up buying the company for $44 billion, which he admits was an overpayment. As of February 2024, X is worth 71.5% less than what Elon paid for it back in 2022.
Neuralink: Musk founded Neuralink in 2016 with the ambitious goal of developing brain-computer interface technology. According to some reports, the company had received $158 million in investments by 2019, out of which $100 was from Elon himself. According to a June 2023 valuation, the company was worth $5 billion.
The Boring Company: Founded by Musk in 2016 as a subsidiary of SpaceX in 2017, The Boring Company focuses on tunnel construction and infrastructure development aimed at alleviating traffic congestion in urban areas. The company was started with an initial funding of $113 million, out of which Elon invested $102 million himself. As of the report that came out in October 2023, the company has a valuation of $7 billion.
SolarCity (now part of Tesla): Elon Musk played a significant role in SolarCity, a solar energy services company founded by his cousins in 2006. Elon led a $10 million investment in SolarCity out of which he put in about $9 million of his own money. In 2016, Tesla acquired SolarCity for $2.6 billion, integrating its solar energy expertise into Tesla's clean energy initiatives, such as solar panels and energy storage products.
OpenAI: Musk has been involved with OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research organization, since its inception in 2015. He initially co-founded the organization and donated close to $50 million during his time with the company. He later departed from the board in 2018 to avoid potential conflicts of interest with Tesla's AI initiatives. In January 2024, Musk sued OpenAI for “prioritizing profits over public good,” which is a shift from OpenAI's original mission.
Starlink: Musk's SpaceX launched Starlink, a satellite internet constellation project, to provide high-speed internet access to underserved and remote areas worldwide. As Starlink is part of SpaceX, there is no company valuation available to the public.
Elon Musk has been known for aggressively spending his wealth on a list of things, other than his businesses. Two of the main areas of focus are real estate and cars, however, in the last 4-5 years he has been selling most of his assets to focus more on his vision and goals with his companies. Below, is a list of the assets that Elon had spent his wealth on.
From the year 2012 to 2017, Elon went on a real estate diversification spree as he bought several luxurious houses in the prime areas of California. He spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million buying these houses, however, by 2021 he sold all of those houses for a combined total of $137 million, making a profit of almost $50 million. Here is a list of some of the most luxurious houses he owned.
Elon Musk's most expensive car was the McLaren F1 that he bought for $1 million
Cars:
It might surprise some people, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk owns cars besides Tesla cars in his garage. His collection consists of more than 10 cars, with their combined value being more than $3 million. Down Below, is a list of some of his most exciting cars, and if you are curious about the rest of the cars in Elon Musk's garage, click here.
Private Jets:
Musk's fleet of private jets is as cool and stunning as his collection of cars, it consists of four high-end private jets costing millions of dollars. Here is a list of the most extravagant ones out of the bunch.
Throughout his professional career and life, Elon has made several charitable contributions that have further stamped his name as a philanthropist. Here are some of the most renowned contributions made by him.
Musk's roadmap for the latter half and the future is quite a dynamic one, as he has already revealed a bunch of his plans including the further development of Space X with a plan to send humans to Mars by the end of 2024. However, on the month of January NASA decided to delay the plan to 2026, due to a range of technical issues.
Besides that Musk has also been advancing with the development of xAI, and plans to set a supercomputer with Nvidia's high-end GPUs by the end of 2025.
SpaceX is a private space exploration company founded by Elon Musk. The company designs, manufactures, and launches spacecraft to eventually colonize Mars.
Tesla is an electric vehicle and clean energy company founded by Elon Musk. The company produces electric cars, solar products, and energy storage systems.
Neuralink is a neurotechnology company founded by Elon Musk. The company is developing brain-computer interfaces to allow humans to communicate with computers and other machines directly through their thoughts.
Elon Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter. He currently owns around 74% of the company.
EBay purchased PayPal for around $1.5 billion in 2002. Elon Musk was the majority shareholder in the company, with around 12% of the shares. He made $175 million from the deal.
SpaceX is valued at $180 billion, according to its most recent evaluation.
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