Donald Trump's Presidential victory has launched the stock market into overdrive as Wall Street predicts his second term will bring a much more business-friendly administrative touch to corporate America. Yesterday alone, the world's ten richest citizens saw their net worth increase by a combined $64 billion. Of that $64 billion increase, $26 billion was gained by one man: Elon Musk.
And with another gain today, Elon Musk's net worth is a whisker away from topping $300 billion.
If that number sounds totally unprecedented and make-believe, if he pulls it off, it will actually be the SECOND time Elon's net worth has cracked $300 billion. It will also complete an absolutely incredible turnaround in his fortunes from a low of $130 billion at the start of 2023.
(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A Brief History of Elon's Net Worth
On January 1, 2020, Elon's net worth was $28 billion.
On January 1, 2021, his net worth was $170 billion.
On October 28, 2021, Elon's net worth topped $300 billion for the first time.
On November 4, 2021, Elon was briefly worth $340 billion, enough to break John D. Rockefeller's 80-year streak as the richest human in modern history (when adjusting for inflation).
The next year or so was brutal for Elon's fortunes, primarily because of a major drop in Tesla's share price.
Elon ended 2022, having seen his net worth drop all the way back down to $130 billion.
A resurgence of Tesla's stock price and a new valuation at SpaceX allowed Elon to end 2023 with a net worth of $230 billion.
The first half of 2024 was yet another significant decline, all the way back down to $168 billion in April. The last few months have been a steady march back up to the top. That brings us to the present.
After spending $130 million of his own money supporting Donald Trump's reelection campaign, that bet paid off on Tuesday when the former President defeated Kamala Harris. With the win, it seems a safe bet that Trump will be very supportive of both Tesla and Elon personally. That's what Wall Street thinks. Hence, Elon's fortune jumping $26 billion on Wednesday and another $5 billion today, bringing his net worth as of this writing (Thursday, November 7, at 3 pm PST) to $295 billion.
