Who is Elon Musk and what is his net worth?

Elon Musk has become the world's richest person, with his net worth surpassing half a trillion dollars in October 2025, according to Forbes [1]. The Tesla and SpaceX chief's fortune has since climbed to an estimated $726 billion, per Bloomberg [1]. Musk's wealth is anchored by his leadership of electric vehicle maker Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX, which he founded in 2002 [4]. A planned flotation of SpaceX shares at $135 each could push his net worth to roughly $988 billion [1]. In November 2025, Tesla shareholders approved a pay package that could be worth $1 trillion over the next decade if Musk meets a series of ambitious targets, including growing the company's value eightfold and selling a million AI robots [1]. This followed a protracted legal battle over a separate $56 billion pay deal, which a Delaware judge rejected for a second time in December 2024, calling the sum "unfathomable" [1]. Born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, Musk emigrated to Canada and later the United States, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002 [4]. He gained early wealth from the sale of Zip2 and the online payment company that became PayPal, which eBay acquired in 2002 [4]. He joined Tesla as an early investor in 2004 and became its CEO in 2008 [4]. His other ventures include the neurotechnology firm Neuralink, the tunneling Boring Company, and the artificial intelligence startup xAI, which he founded in 2023 after parting ways with OpenAI in 2018 [4]. Musk acquired the social media platform Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, later rebranding it as X [5]. He stated he planned to make its algorithms open-source and combat spambot accounts [5]. The takeover was followed by significant layoffs and an ultimatum demanding employees commit to "extremely hardcore" work, prompting hundreds of resignations [5]. The company's value subsequently dropped to $9.4 billion by some estimates [1]. Musk's political involvement intensified during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, when he became the largest donor supporting Donald Trump [4]. After Trump's inauguration, Musk served as a senior advisor and de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency [4]. The alliance collapsed into a public feud between June and September 2025, with the two men trading insults on their respective social media platforms [3]. Trump escalated the dispute at a Michigan rally in July 2025, saying, "Maybe it's time he went back to where he came from" [3]. Musk announced his departure from the White House on May 28, 2025, and later called for Trump's impeachment before the two publicly reunited at a memorial service in September 2025 [3]. Musk has fathered 14 children with multiple partners [1]. His family background includes his mother Maye Musk, a model and author, and his father Errol Musk, a mine-owner and businessman [2]. His first wife, Justine Musk, wrote in a 2010 essay that he told her while dancing at their wedding, "I am the alpha in this relationship" [1]. Tesla investor Ross Gerber has said of Musk's motivations, "Elon only gets involved with things if he feels that they're critically important for some reason... for the sake of society or humanity" [1].