Elon Musk’s influence expanded far beyond the tech world following Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory. After becoming one of Trump’s most prominent supporters during the campaign, Musk was tapped to help oversee the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, with the administration promising sweeping cuts to federal spending and regulations. Musk later announced in May 2025 that his role with the administration had officially ended, though his political involvement and public statements continued drawing attention.
At the same time, Musk’s business empire kept growing. Tesla remained one of the world’s most valuable automakers, while SpaceX reached new heights with the continued expansion of Starlink and its historic IPO in June 2026. The blockbuster public offering briefly valued SpaceX at more than $2 trillion and helped make Musk the world’s first trillionaire. Meanwhile, Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has become an increasingly significant part of his fortune as competition in the AI industry intensifies.
Despite fluctuations in the billionaire rankings, Musk remains the richest person in the world by a wide margin. Find out who else ranks among the wealthiest people on the planet today.
What Is Elon Musk’s Net Worth?
Musk currently has an estimated net worth of $1.1 trillion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO remains the richest person in the world in 2026, with much of his fortune tied to his stakes in Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X, and other ventures.
Musk first surpassed the $400 billion mark in December 2024, becoming the first person in history to reach that milestone.
What Is Larry Ellison’s Net Worth?
Ellison has a net worth of about $229.3 billion, according to Forbes. Most of his fortune comes from his longtime stake in Oracle, where he still serves as chairman and chief technology officer.
Ellison’s wealth surged in 2025 during the artificial intelligence boom, when Oracle stock soared after major AI-related business deals and cloud computing growth. In September 2025, he briefly became the second person ever to surpass a $400 billion net worth and temporarily overtook Musk as the world’s richest person before Musk reclaimed the top spot.
Who Are the Richest People in the World?
As of today, the richest people in the world according to Bloomberg, Forbes and several other outlets are:
- Elon Musk – $1.1 trillion
- Larry Page – $295.1 billion
- Sergey Brin – $272.2 billion
- Jeff Bezos – $246.7 billion
- Larry Ellison – $229.3 billion
How Did Musk Make His Money?
A significant portion of Musk’s net worth comes from his 12 percent stake in Tesla, which represents approximately 412 million shares. He has pledged 58 percent of his Tesla shares as collateral for personal loans totaling $3.5 billion. In 2022, Musk sold $40 billion worth of Tesla stock to help fund his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which he later rebranded as X. Although Musk still owns roughly 79 percent of the company at that original valuation, Twitter’s worth has dropped by nearly 70 percent as of August 2024.
Musk is also the co-founder of SpaceX and The Boring Company and serves as chairman of SolarCity. He owns 43 percent of SpaceX, which was valued at $180 billion in its most recent funding round and was estimated at $350 billion in December 2024. The Boring Company, in contrast, was valued at around $5 billion in its latest round.
Additionally, Musk owns about 54 percent of xAI, the artificial intelligence company he founded in 2023. The startup was valued at $50 billion as of November 2024, according to the Wall Street Journal.
