Elon Musk on Thursday became the first person estimated to reach a net worth of $500 billion.

This is according to U.S. magazine Forbes, which largely holds shares in electric carmaker Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX.

Forbes calculated Mr Musk’s wealth at roughly $150 billion, more than that of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

The magazine later revised the estimate slightly down to $499.1 billion.

Mr Musk’s wealth is harder to estimate than that of other billionaires because many of his companies are not publicly traded.

Mr Musk surpassed the $400 billion mark in December 2024, amid investor speculation that Tesla would benefit from his connections to then-newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump.

He frequently visited the White House early in Mr Trump’s term, but relations soured later, and Mr Trump threatened to cut federal support to Mr Musk’s firms.

Tesla sales also softened, partly because some potential buyers were put off by Mr Musk’s right-leaning political views and his role in Mr Trump’s federal layoffs and cost-cutting measures.

Tesla’s stock has since rebounded, bolstered by expectations for growth in robotaxis and robotics and possibly by a spike in sales ahead of the expiration of federal electric vehicle incentives in late September.

Mr Musk’s portfolio also includes social media platform X, AI developer xAI, and neural implant company Neuralink. Tesla, however, remains central to his fortune.

The electric carmaker is offering a compensation plan potentially worth $1 trillion, contingent upon achieving eightfold market value growth, retaining Mr. Musk as chief executive, and fulfilling other performance conditions.

(dpa/NAN)