On Wednesday, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, reached a net worth of $400 billion for the first time, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Shares in Musk's electric car company Tesla have soared in recent months, hitting an all-time high of $424.88 per share on Wednesday and closing at an all-time high of $424.77.
But it was the insider sale of shares in Musk's private space company SpaceX that pushed his net worth to new heights and made his space company the world's most valuable private startup.
The sale increased Musk's net worth by $50 billion to $439.2 billion, according to the company. Bloomberg estimates.
It's a big comeback for the billionaire businessman who owns Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and X, formerly known as Twitter. In 2022, Musk lost between $180 billion and $200 billion due to the drop in Tesla stock.
Musk's net worth has skyrocketed since President-elect Donald Trump won the November election.
The tech billionaire was one of President Trump's strongest and outspoken supporters. Donated a whopping $250 million Federal Election Commission filings say she participated in his campaign, pro-Trump PACS and rallies on his behalf in battleground states.
He remains one of Trump's top aides and was chosen to head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to reduce federal spending, an idea that Musk originated during Trump's campaign. .
Tesla shares have risen about 65% since Trump's victory, as investors expect the president-elect to accelerate Musk's rollout of self-driving cars and eliminate tax credits for electric vehicle purchases. This policy greatly helped Tesla's rivals.
The value of Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI has more than doubled to $50 billion since its last funding round in May.
SpaceX and its investors agreed on Wednesday to buy stock from insiders in a $1.25 billion takeover offer, valuing the company at $350 billion, Bloomberg reported. CNBC.
SpaceX makes most of its revenue through government contracts. Since 2008, nearly $19.8 billion has been paid to NASA and the Department of Defense in federal contracts for SpaceX rockets and satellites. According to USA Today.
The space company will likely receive continued support under the Trump administration. The president-elect praised Musk's goal of landing astronauts on Mars and attended a SpaceX launch shortly after winning the election.
Jared Isaacman, whom President Trump nominated to lead NASA, also has close ties to Musk.
He became the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space on a SpaceX rocket earlier this year, and last month described the company as “the most innovative and literally impressive organization I've ever seen.”
he Investing $27.5 million in SpaceX in 2021 through his payment company, according to SEC filings.
Isaacman is worth about $1.7 billion, according to Forbes magazine, and made his fortune through the payments processing company Shift4 Payments, which he founded when he was 16 years old.
A Delaware judge last week struck down Musk's “excessive” compensation package in 2018, which is now worth more than $100 billion. It was the second such ruling, and Musk denounced it as “completely insane.”
Even if his salary package were canceled, Musk would still be the richest person in the world.
