Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire

As of October 2, Musk's fortune is estimated at $499.1 billion, according to Forbes.

Musk, who in December became the first person whose fortune exceeded $400 billion, is $150 billion ahead of Larry Ellison, who ranks second, and is halfway to becoming the world's first trillionaire.

Tesla shares rose nearly 4% as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, adding about $9.3 billion to Musk's fortune as investors continue to welcome the prospect of Musk's shift from politics to business.

The electric car maker's stock price has nearly doubled since Musk first announced during an April conference call that he would step down from his role in the Trump administration to devote more time to Tesla.

With Tesla's market capitalization back to 10% of its December all-time high, Musk's 12% stake in the company is now worth $191 billion.

And that's not counting the performance-based Tesla stock options from Musk's 2018 CEO compensation package, which would be worth $133 billion today if a Delaware judge hadn't overturned that decision in January 2024.

Reaching the $500 billion net worth milestone is just the latest in a series of significant achievements for Musk over the past five years.

In March 2020, his net worth was only $24.6 billion, but the rapid rise of Tesla shares made him the fifth person in history to exceed $100 billion in net worth in August 2020.

In January 2021, he became the richest person in the world for the first time, with a net worth of nearly $190 billion.

Photo: screenshot.