Elon Musk’s Net Worth: How Much Money Does the Tesla, SpaceX, and Boring Company Billionaire Have? 

Elon Musk is a business magnate, industrial designer, engineer, and tech mogul. His wealth comes from his ownership stakes in SpaceX and Tesla.

Musk is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX, investor, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; and founder of The Boring Company. He’s also the president of the philanthropic Musk Foundation. In December 2022, Elon Musk acquired Twitter. 

This article explores Elon Musk’s net worth including his life, most notable projects, Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company, and how he makes his money.

What is Elon Musk’s net worth?

Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at $146 billion. This makes him the second wealthiest person in the world, according to different sources.

Musk’s wealth comes from his ownership stake in Tesla and SpaceX. In 2020, Musk’s wealth peaked at $320 billion, and he became the world’s richest man in January 2021 — a title he held until December 2022, when his net worth fell due to a decrease in Tesla’s share price.

Who is Elon Musk?

Elon Musk is a South African-born American engineer, entrepreneur, investor, and business magnate. He is the founder, CEO, and chief engineer/designer of SpaceX, and the founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla, Inc. He is also the founder of The Boring Company, Neuralink, and OpenAI; and the president of the Musk Foundation, a philanthropic non-profit making organization. 

Elon Musk’s Early Life 

Elon Reeve Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 28, 1971, with Pennsylvania Dutch and British ancestry. His mother is Maye Musk, born in Canada and raised in South Africa, and his father is Errol Musk, a South African electromechanical engineer, pilot, and sailor. His parents divorced in 1980.

Elon’s brother, Kimball, spoke to our Capitalism.com audience. You can watch his keynote here.

Elon Musk’s Education 

Elon Musk attended Waterkloof House Preparatory School, Bryanston High School, and Pretoria Boys High School in South Africa.

In 1989, Musk attended the University of Pretoria for 5 months before moving to Canada at age 18. In 1990, he enrolled at Queen’s University and transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he received bachelor’s degrees in economics and physics. 

While at UPenn, Musk hosted parties and charged tickets to pay his tuition. 

In 1995, Musk moved to California to attend Stanford University for a Ph.D. program in materials science. But he quit after two days with his brother Kimbal, who co-founded the online city guide software company, Zip2. 

Elon Musk Career

Elon Musk has had an expansive career in innovation, business, and entrepreneurship. In 1995, Elon Musk founded Zip2, an internet guide company, and x.com, an online financial services, and e-mail payment company. The company later merged with online bank Confinity to form PayPal. Musk has co-founded six companies, including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX, and tunneling startup Boring Company. He owns other companies like Neuralik, Starlink, SolarCity, OpenAI, and Hyperloop. Recently, in Dec 2022, Elon Musk purchased Twitter.  

Below is a list highlighting Elon Musk’s net worth and his sources of wealth throughout his career:

Top Companies Contribute to Elon Musk’s net worth:

• Tesla, Inc. – $200 billion (20% ownership stake)
• SpaceX – $50 billion (100% ownership stake)
• SolarCity – $5 billion (22% ownership stake)
• The Boring Company – $2 billion (100% ownership stake)
• Neuralink – $1 billion (100% ownership stake)

Elon Musk’s Investment Portfolio:

• PayPal – $15 billion
• Hyperloop – $10 billion
• OpenAI – $1 billion
• Zip2 – $22 million

Real Estate Holdings:

• Bel Air Mansion – $22 million
• Ranch in Texas – $20 million
• Property in New York City – $18 million

How does Elon Musk make his money?

Elon Musk has made money through technology, engineering, mining, real estate, and investments. 

#1. Tesla Inc., formerly Tesla Motors 

Elon Musk is the CEO, product architect, and largest shareholder of Tesla Inc., a company he helped co-found. Tesla is an American multinational corporation specializing in electric vehicles. Elon owns about 25% of Tesla between stock and options. But he’s pledged over half of his Tesla stock as collateral for loans.

#2. SpaceX — Space Exploration Technologies Corp

After several unsuccessful attempts to acquire a rocket, Elon Musk decided to start a company that could build affordable rockets — SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation). With $100 million of his own money, Musk founded SpaceX in May 2002. He became the company’s CEO and Chief Engineer. SpaceX is worth $127 billion after a funding round in May 2022.

#3. Starlink — Internet Access

In 2015, Musk’s SpaceX started the development of Starlink to provide internet access. The company would be a constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites to provide satellite internet access. It launched the first 2 prototype satellites in February 2018. SpaceX estimated the total cost of launching and maintaining Starlink since its launch has been $10 billion.

#4. Neuralink

In 2016, Elon Musk co-founded Neuralink, a neurotechnology company, with an investment of $100 million. Neuralink’s goal is to integrate the human brain with artificial intelligence (AI) and to help treat neurological conditions such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and spinal cord injuries.

#5. SolarCity

Musk is the chairman of SolarCity, a subsidiary of Tesla and a provider of solar power systems in the United States. Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016. In addition to solar power systems, SolarCity produces energy storage devices and automobile accessories. 

#6. Boring Company

Musk is the founder and CEO of The Boring Company, which aims to construct underground tunnels for transportation to ease traffic. He founded the Boring Company in 2017 to help ease traffic in major cities by constructing tunnels with specialized, underground, high-occupancy, high-speed vehicles. The Boring Company raised $675 million in April 2022 at a $5.7 billion valuation.

#7. Hyperloop

Musk proposed the Hyperloop, a high-speed vactrain transportation system, and is working on developing the technology. SpaceX also promotes Musk’s hyperloop concept; other companies or organizations have been encouraged to collaborate and develop the technology.

#8. Mergers and acquisitions

Musk has been involved in several mergers and acquisitions throughout his career. Some of his prominent mergers and acquisitions are are follows:

• 1999 — Compaq acquired zip2 for $307 million
• 2000 — X.com merged with Confinity to form PayPal
• 2002 — eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion
• 2016 — Tesla acquired SolarCity
• 2022 — Elon Musk acquired Twitter for $44 billion

#9. Zip2 – Online City Guide

In 1995, Musk made his first fortune as a co-founder of Zip2 with his brother Kimbal and friend Greg Kouri. The company provided an online city guide with maps, directions, and yellow pages for newspaper companies. After great success and contracts with The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, Compaq acquired Zip2 for $307 million in cash in 1999 and Musk received $22 million for his 7% share.

#10. X.com and PayPal — Payment Service Provider 

In 1999, Musk co-founded X.com, an online financial services, and e-mail payment company. It became the first federally insured online bank, with over 200,000 customers.  

In 2000, X.com merged with the online bank, Confinity, and together they formed PayPal with Musk as CEO. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in stock, of which Musk—the then largest shareholder with 11.72% shares — received $175.8 million. 

In 2017, Musk purchased the X.com domain from PayPal due to its sentimental value.

In 2022, Musk floated the idea of creating “X, the everything app” using the X.com domain name.

#11. Twitter (@elonmusk)

Musk voiced interest in buying Twitter in 2017 and started purchasing Twitter shares in January 2022, reaching a 9.2% stake by April 2022. This made him the largest shareholder. In April 2022, Twitter’s board agreed to sell the company to Musk for $44 billion after he disclosed a 9.2% stake and threatened a hostile takeover. The acquisition was completed on October 27, 2022, and Elon Musk is now the owner, CEO, and largest shareholder of Twitter Inc., owning around 74% of the company 

#11. Musk Foundation

Musk is the founder of the Musk Foundation, which focuses on renewable energy, science education, and pediatric health. Since 2002, the foundation has made over 350 donations. From 2002 to 2018, the Musk foundation gave out $25 million to non-profit organizations. About half of this went to Musk’s OpenAI company, which was, at the time, a non-profit. Some of the foundation’s beneficiaries are his alma mater, the UnPenn, the Wikimedia Foundation, and his brother Kimbal’s Big Green. 

#12. The Elon Musk Show — Musk Series One & Two & Three etc.

In May 2022, The BBC produced a landmark documentary series on Elon Musk in a three-part documentary series. The Elon Musk Show recorded who Elon Musk is by interviewing the people close to him — family members, employees, close friends, and enemies.

#13. OpenAI — Artificial Intelligence Research

Musk is also involved in AI research and investing in AI-related startups. Musk founded OpenAI in 2015 as a not-for-profit AI research company to develop artificial intelligence that is safe and beneficial to humanity. Musk left the OpenAI board in 2018 to avoid possible future conflicts with his role as CEO of Tesla. The company has developed and made significant advances in machine learning, producing neural networks such as chatGPT (for human-like text) and DALL-E (for digital images).

Elon Musk FAQs

How much is Elon Musk’s net worth?

Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at $146 billion.

What companies does Elon Musk own?

Elon Musk owns several companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, SolarCity, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.

How did Elon Musk make his money?

Elon Musk has made money through various ventures, entrepreneurship, innovations, company mergers, and acquisitions. He’s invested in electric vehicles, space exploration, solar power, tunnel construction, AI and technology startups, real estate, stocks, and bonds.

What investments has Elon Musk made?

Elon Musk has invested in several startups, including AI-related companies, clean energy production, stocks, bonds, and philanthropy. His investment portfolio includes the following: 

• PayPal – $15 billion
• Hyperloop – $10 billion
• OpenAI – $1 billion
• Zip2 – $22 million

What projects is Elon Musk working on?

Elon Musk is currently working on various projects, including electric vehicles, space exploration, solar power, tunnel construction, technology startups such as Neuralink, and AI projects through OpenAI. He is also working on developing the Hyperloop, a high-speed vactrain transportation system.

What are Elon Musk’s tech companies worth?

Elon Musk’s tech companies are worth as follows on market capitalization:

• Tesla Inc. –  $404.56 billion (up to $1 trillion)
• SpaceX – $150 billion
• Starlink – $40 billion
• SolarCity – $5 billion (22% ownership stake)
• The Boring Company – $5.7 billion  
• Neuralink – $1 billion (100% ownership stake)
• OpenAI — $1 billion

What is the value of Elon Musk’s stock?

As of 2023, the value of Elon Musk’s stock in Tesla is estimated to be around $150 billion, making it one of his most valuable assets. He also holds a significant amount of stock in SpaceX and SolarCity.  

How much does Elon Musk donate to charity?

It’s unknown how much Elon Musk donates to charity. He is the founder of the Musk Foundation, which focuses on renewable energy, science education, and pediatric health. In November 2021, Musk donated $5.7 billion of Tesla’s shares to charity to the Musk Foundation. The foundation disbursed $160 million to non-profits that year.

How does Elon Musk manage his wealth?

Elon Musk has a team of financial advisors and professionals to help him make investment decisions and manage his assets under the management of Birchall.

Takeaway

Elon Musk’s net worth is estimated at $146 billion, making him the second richest person in the world. He has made his money through various ventures, including technology, financial services, electric vehicles, space exploration, solar power, tunnel construction, and technology startups. Elon also holds significant stock in Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity. 

He may just become the single most notable entrepreneur of the century. Time will tell.

If you want to create spectacular wealth, there’s a lot to learn from Elon. 

But you don’t have to be a billionaire to get started. In fact, many of our most successful students started with nothing and built businesses that have changed their lives forever while also making the world a better place. Check out our growing list of success stories.

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