Elon Musk nears $700 billion net worth

Elon Musk on Tuesday became the first person ever worth more than $684 billion, according to Forbes, because of soaring valuations of his companies, including SpaceX.

Musk, who crossed the $600 billion mark on Tuesday, 16 December after surpassing $500 billion in October, owns an estimated 42 per cent stake in SpaceX.

The rocket making startup is reported to be preparing for an initial public offering next year at a valuation of about $800 billion, taking Musk net worth to around $684 billion around 10:00pm Dhaka time on Wednesday, according to Forbes Real Time Billionaires List.

His wealth has also been bolstered by his roughly 12 per percent stake in electric-vehicle maker Tesla. In November, Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Musk, the largest corporate compensation deal on record, backing his push to transform the company into an artificial-intelligence and robotics powerhouse.

Musk’s artificial-intelligence startup xAI is reportedly in advanced talks to raise $15 billion in new equity at a valuation of $230 billion. He bought Twitter in a $44 billion enterprise-value deal in 2022 and merged the platform with xAI in March, valuing the combined company at $113 billion including debt.

Beyond Tesla and SpaceX, Musk founded tunneling startup The Boring Company and brain-implant firm Neuralink. The two ventures have raised about $2 billion from private investors combined.

According to Forbes, Musk, who has spoken publicly about concerns over population decline, has fathered at least 14 children with four women. Raised in South Africa, he taught himself computer programming as a child and sold his first video game, Blastar, for about $500.