According to Bloomberg, the number of people with a net worth over $200 billion sits at only three. Elon Musk’s recently topped $450 billion. That is nearly double the next person on the list and up $223 billion this year. The number two person, Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, has a net worth that rose $66 billion this year to $243 billion. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta Platforms, is up $84 billion to $212 billion.
Musk’s net worth is close to the gross domestic product of the Netherlands.
Musk’s net worth rose mainly because he owned part of three companies. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA), of which he is chief executive officer, is worth $1.47 billion. That is up 82% this year. Tesla has 49% of the U.S. electric vehicle (EV) market and is seventh in China, the world’s largest EV market. Tesla’s value is also based on a lead in self-driving cars. Musk owns 20.5% of Tesla.
SpaceX virtually controls the U.S. rocket business and is the leader in the industry worldwide. It has established itself as the preeminent rocket launch provider, lofting satellites, cargo, and people to space for NASA, the Pentagon, and commercial partners. It is building out a large network of Starlink satellites providing internet service.
Musk owns 42% of SpaceX and has 79% of the company’s voting shares. He can make decisions about SpaceX without challenge. SpaceX was recently valued at $350 billion.
Among Musk’s other holdings, the most valuable may eventually be xAI, a major rival to OpenAI in the race to control the future of artificial intelligence. xAI recently raised $6 billion, which puts its value at between $40 billion and $50 billion. Musk owns over half of xAI.
Musk owns parts of several other companies, including social media platform X and implantable brain-computer interface operation Neuralink.
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