Elon Musk is Close to Becoming World’s First Trillionaire

Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX, is edging closer to an achievement no one has ever reached becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

According to Forbes, Musk’s fortune briefly crossed the $500 billion mark this week, putting him halfway to that massive milestone. 

His net worth touched $500.1 billion on Wednesday before dropping slightly to $499.1 billion. The rebound in Tesla’s stock price, after months of ups and downs, played a big role in pushing his wealth higher.

Musk, 54, remains the richest person alive, far ahead of other tech giants. Oracle’s Larry Ellison comes next with $350.7 billion, while Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg follows with $245.8 billion.

From startups to space rockets

Musk’s journey to unimaginable wealth started decades ago. After studying at the University of Pennsylvania and briefly enrolling at Stanford, he made his first big money in 1999 when he sold a software company to Compaq for over $300 million. 

Soon after, his next venture merged with PayPal, which gave him another major payout.

In 2002, he launched SpaceX, aiming to make space travel more affordable. 

Two years later, he became chairman of Tesla, which has since grown into one of the world’s biggest electric car makers. These two companies, alongside his other projects, form the backbone of his fortune.