Elon Musk is one of the most famous and richest entrepreneurs in the world. He is the founder and CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and X, among other companies. He is also known for his ambitious and visionary projects, such as colonizing Mars and preserving humanity from extinction.
But how much money does Elon Musk have, and how long would it take him to spend it all? According to Forbes, as of January 2024, Musk has a net worth of $243.46 billion, making him the wealthiest person in the world. This means that he has more money than the GDP of many countries, such as Finland, Pakistan, or Greece.
If Musk decided to spend his fortune at a rate of $1 million per day, it would take him 673 years to exhaust his wealth. That is more than six times the average human lifespan. To put it in perspective, if Musk started spending $1 million per day since the year 1351, he would still have money left today.
However, Musk is not known for his extravagant spending habits. He has said that he prefers to invest his money in projects that benefit humanity and the future, rather than buying material goods. He has also pledged to donate half of his wealth to philanthropic causes.
Some of the ways that Musk spends his money include:
– Funding SpaceX, his company that aims to make humans a multi-planetary species and colonize Mars. SpaceX is worth nearly $150 billion and has launched over 100 rockets into orbit.
– Buying Twitter, the social media platform, for $44 billion in 2022, after he disclosed a 9.1% stake and threatened a hostile takeover. He renamed the company X and owns an estimated 74% of it.
– Supporting the Boring Company, his tunneling startup that seeks to solve traffic problems by building underground transportation systems. The Boring Company raised $675 million in 2022 at a $5.7 billion valuation.
– Purchasing some of the craziest things, such as a submarine car from the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me”, a $70 million mansion in Los Angeles, and a flamethrower that sold out in four days.
Musk has also said that he does not own any stocks, bonds, or cash, except for what he needs to pay his bills. He has pledged more than half of his Tesla shares as collateral for personal loans of up to $3.5 billion¹. He has also sold most of his real estate and said that he wants to own no house⁷.
Musk’s wealth is largely tied to the performance of his companies, especially Tesla, which accounts for more than 80% of his net worth. Tesla’s stock price has fluctuated significantly in the past year, reaching a peak of $1,200 per share in November 2021 and dropping to $400 per share in January 2024. This means that Musk’s net worth could change dramatically depending on the market conditions and investor sentiment.
Musk has said that he does not care about his wealth and that he only sees it as a way to achieve his goals. He has also said that he operates on the physics approach to analysis, boiling things down to the first principles and reasoning up from there.
Musk’s vision and innovation have inspired millions of people around the world and have changed the fields of transportation, energy, and space exploration. He is undoubtedly one of the most influential and impactful entrepreneurs of our time.