Elon Musk is edging closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire after his net worth surged to nearly $850bn, cementing his position at the top of the rich list. According to the latest estimates from Forbes, the 54-year-old entrepreneur’s fortune has soared on the back of fresh private investment into his artificial intelligence venture, xAI Holdings.
Private investors recently poured $20bn into xAI Holdings at a $250bn valuation, more than doubling the $113bn valuation attached to the business when Musk merged his AI start-up xAI with social media platform X last year. Forbes estimates the deal increased the value of Musk’s 49% stake by roughly $62bn, pushing his overall wealth to around $849bn.
Musk, who co-founded seven companies including electric carmaker Tesla and rocket group SpaceX, derives the bulk of his wealth from those holdings.
He owns about 12% of Tesla’s common stock in addition to stock options, while his 42% stake in SpaceX is currently his single most valuable asset. Tesla remains his second-largest holding.
The recent funding round comes despite heavy spending at xAI, which reportedly burned through billions of dollars in 2024 as competition in the artificial intelligence sector intensified. Musk has defended the aggressive investment, positioning xAI and its Grok chatbot as central to his broader technological ambitions.
Over the past year, Musk has repeatedly broken personal wealth records. Rising Tesla shares, a sharp jump in SpaceX’s valuation and favourable court rulings tied to his Tesla pay package have all contributed to his meteoric climb. He is also the first individual to surpass $700bn in net worth.
