Elon Musk has become the first person ever to achieve a net worth of more than half a trillion dollars – a milestone reached in October 2025, according to Forbes, just weeks before Tesla shareholders approved a record-breaking pay deal that could be worth $1tn. The planned flotation of SpaceX, which builds space exploration rockets and also owns xAI and Starlink, could push his net worth to about $1tn, making the world’s richest man a trillionaire.
But the boss of X, Tesla and SpaceX is not just a business titan. He is also known for using his social media platform to air his views on a vast array of topics, particularly politics. After playing a key but controversial role in Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election in early 2024, their relationship imploded in a bitter feud. Musk has also waded into political controversy in the UK, Germany and other European states, frequently stoking the ire of politicians. His foray into politics, however, appears to have come at a cost. Analysts attributed slumps in Tesla sales in 2025 partly to customers turning against him.
“Elon Musk becomes first person with net worth over $500bn, with Tesla pay deal and SpaceX flotation poised to make him a trillionaire.”
Born in Pretoria, South Africa, Musk showed his talents for entrepreneurship early, going door-to-door with his brother selling homemade chocolate Easter eggs and developing his first computer game at the age of 12. He has described his childhood as difficult, affected by his parents’ divorce, bullying at school and his own difficulty picking up on social cues because of Asperger’s Syndrome. At the earliest opportunity, he left home for college, moving to Canada and then the US, where he studied economics and physics at the University of Pennsylvania.
In a 2010 essay for Marie Claire, his first wife, Justine Musk, wrote that even before making his millions, Musk was “not a man who takes no for an answer”. “The will to compete and dominate, that made him so successful in business, did not magically shut off when he came home,” she recalled, adding that he told her while dancing at their wedding, “I am the alpha in this relationship.”
After being accepted to a physics graduate degree programme at Stanford University, Musk quickly dropped out and founded two technology start-ups during the “dotcom boom” of the 1990s – including a web software firm and an online banking company. Today, as his businesses reach new heights, his political interventions continue to draw attention, raising questions about whether his outspokenness will ultimately help or hinder his empire.