GRUENHEIDE, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 03: Tesla head Elon Musk talks to the press as he arrives to to have a look at the construction site of the new Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin on September 03, 2020 near Gruenheide, Germany. Musk is currently in Germany where he met with vaccine maker CureVac on Tuesday, with which Tesla has a cooperation to build devices for producing RNA vaccines, as well as German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier yesterday. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as of Dec. 17, Elon Musk is the wealthiest person in the world and has a fortune greater than the gross domestic product of the Philippines, Vietnam and Bangladesh.
With a reported total of $486 billion, Musk, chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, has surpassed previous record-holders Jeff Bezos ($250 billion) and Mark Zuckerberg ($219 billion) by more than the two billionaires combined.
Amazon CEOs Bezos and Musk have been back and forth for years in their quest for the number one spot; Bezos was reported to be the richest person in the world in 2018, 2022 and earlier this year.
In the last few months, Musk’s net worth has more than doubled. An avid supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, Musk reportedly invested $277 million into Trump and other Republican candidates this election season, which, less than two months after the election, has generated $224 billion. Another contributor to Musk’s status is his 13% stake in Tesla, whose stock has rocketed since early November.
Musk also has a 42% stake in SpaceX (an estimated $350 billion), which controls a network of Starlink internet satellites and operates the Dragon 2 spacecraft. The Dragon 2 transports NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. SpaceX also provides private flights to space at roughly $55 million to $88 million per person.
Musk’s net worth is expected to continue climbing, as Trump recently asked him to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, promising to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget.
This appointment has sparked much concern from a variety of government officials.
In a letter to the Trump transition team, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) questioned what ethical standards Musk planned to apply to his work with the government: “Mr. Musk’s substantial private interests present a massive conflict of interest with the role he has to take on as your ‘unofficial co-president.'”
She explained, “Currently, the American public has no way of knowing whether the advice that he is whispering to you in secret is good for the country–or merely good for the bottom line.”
Warren wrote, “[Musk] has been referred to as ‘America’s most powerful private citizen.’ But Musk…is CEO of several companies that have significant interests before the federal government…in addition to their substantial dependence on government contracts and other forms of direct and indirect government support, [Musk’s companies] have an ongoing interest in how the government does or does not enforce labor laws, workplace safety rules, environmental regulations, and other federal laws.”
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