What just happened? Elon Musk has recaptured the title of world's richest person after relinquishing the top spot roughly a month ago. Not only is he back at number one, he's become the first person in history with a net worth of half a trillion dollars.
According to Forbes' real-time billionaires tracker, Musk's fortune reached $500 billion on Wednesday afternoon – making him the first person ever to reach that milestone. Just last December, the tech entrepreneur became the first to reach the $400 billion net worth mark.
When Musk hit the $500 billion point, he was roughly $150 ahead of Oracle co-founder and Chairman Larry Ellison. As of this writing, Musk's net worth has dipped slightly to $482.6 billion, but he's still in the lead by more than $130 billion.
Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is third on the list at $246.5 billion, slightly ahead of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with a fortune of $235.3 billion. Google co-founder Larry Page rounds out the top five with a net worth of $203.7 billion.
Musk's latest rally is directly linked to Tesla's performance. This past spring, Musk announced plans to step down from his role under President Trump to focus more on running his electric car company. Investors have responded positively as Tesla stock has nearly doubled in value since and is within striking range of its all-time high value from December 2024.
He can also credit the continued success of SpaceX, the private space company he formed in 2002, for adding to his net worth. Based on a private tender offer over the summer, SpaceX is worth at least $400 billion. Musk's stake is said to be around 42 percent.
Should Musk's ventures continue to turn a profit, he could very well become the first ever trillionaire. As Forbes highlights, Tesla's board proposed a new pay package for its CEO last month that includes additional stock valued at up to $1 trillion, contingent on the company hitting "Mars-shot" performance milestones over the next decade.
Masthead credit: Reuters