The upcoming initial public offering (IPO) for SpaceX could officially make Elon Musk as the world’s very first trillionaire. According to a recent analysis by The Wall Street Journal, the 54-year-old tech mogul’s fortune has reached $970 billion, driven primarily by his massive stock holdings. With so much wealth to his name, there’s so much he can do. To put that into perspective, over his 31-year career since co-founding his first US tech company in 1995, Musk has accumulated wealth at an average rate of roughly $992 every single second – or $3.6 million every single hour.
How Elon Musk accumulated his fortune
Not only Musk will become the first trillionaire, he is also the first person to amass $970 billion. Here’s a breakdown of Musk’s portfolio and how exactly his money sits, as per The Wall Street Journal.SpaceX: His pre-IPO stake in the aerospace giant accounts for the largest chunk at $538 billion.Tesla: The stake in the electric vehicle pioneer is valued at $167 billion.Stock options: Holds an additional $150 billion in stock options across both companies that he can exercise at virtually any time.Other ventures: His tunnel-drilling venture, The Boring Company, and his brain-implant firm, Neuralink, are valued at $5 billion apiece.Other assets: About $104 billion is tied up in property, aircraft and various other investments, according to estimates by wealth-intelligence firm Altrata.To match this level of wealth, an average American household earning the median US income of $83,730 would have to work for more than 11 million years, the report said.
How Elon Musk can spend his money
Musk famously vowed to “own no house” back in 2020 and subsequently sold off his California properties to move to Texas. It is to be noted that much of his wealth remains tied up on paper rather than cash. However, if he were to borrow against his massive stock holdings (or liquidate), the purchasing power of $970 billion is almost limitless.Here is what a near-trillionaire could theoretically buy with that fortune:2.4 million American homes: He can buy millions of average-priced residential properties across the United States, the report said.10,000 private jets: Elon Musk can purchase an entire fleet of premier Gulfstream G700 private jets and completely cover their fuel and operating costs for five years.Every major sports team in the US: He can buy all 32 NFL teams, plus every single NBA team, and still have over $500 billion left over in change.Global corporations: Not just teams, homes or entire fleet of jets, Musk can buy out several massive corporations, including Home Depot, FedEx, Target, UPS, Starbucks, and CVS Health, which collectively employ more than 4 million people.
Elon Musk’s wealth is bigger than entire nations
Musk’s current net worth is so massive that it is equivalent to roughly 3% of the entire US Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Furthermore, his individual wealth eclipses the total annual economic output of more than 125 countries, including major global economies like Norway, Thailand, Argentina and South Africa.Musk’s immense wealth accumulation is tied to his work ethics. Following his acquisition of Twitter (now X), Musk stated his workload exploded from an already intense 80 hours a week to more than 120 hours a week, and he had to frequently sleep on factory floors rather than at home.
