Elon Musk's net worth has reached 970 billion dollars, just one step away from becoming the world's first trillionaire.

Written by: Zhao Ying

Source: Wall Street Journal

Musk is on the verge of becoming the world's first trillionaire, and his wealth has grown to a scale that is hard for the average person to comprehend.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on the 2nd, Musk currently has a net worth of about 970 billion dollars, most of which is held in the form of equity. Once SpaceX's IPO is finalized, this figure is likely to surpass one trillion dollars. Based on his 31-year entrepreneurial career, this means he accumulates wealth at an average rate of 992 dollars per second, earning 3.6 million dollars per hour.

This wealth surpasses the annual GDP of over 125 countries worldwide, including Norway, Thailand, Argentina, and South Africa—where Musk was born, with an annual GDP of about 480 billion dollars. Measured as a proportion of the U.S. GDP, Musk's wealth is approximately equivalent to 3% of the U.S. GDP, easily surpassing John D. Rockefeller, the richest person in U.S. history.

Composition of Wealth: 90% Locked in Equity

According to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal, the largest single portion of Musk's 970 billion dollars in wealth comes from pre-IPO equity in SpaceX, valued at about 538 billion dollars; Tesla shares are valued at about 167 billion dollars; and the combined stock options of the two companies are approximately 150 billion dollars, which can be exercised at any time. Additionally, Musk’s tunneling company The Boring Company and brain-computer interface company Neuralink are each valued at about 5 billion dollars, and real estate, planes, and other investment assets are estimated at about 104 billion dollars by wealth intelligence firm Altrata.

This means that the vast majority of Musk's wealth exists as paper assets, rather than cash that can be accessed at any time. He can borrow against his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla, but liquidity remains limited. Musk himself publicly stated in 2020 that he "does not own any real estate" and sold multiple properties in California, but later purchased property in Texas.

Time Dimension: The Average American Family Would Need to Work for 11 Million Years

To make this figure more concrete, correlating Musk's wealth with time: from co-founding his first American tech company in 1995 to today, over 31 years, he has accumulated about 59,500 dollars per minute, about 85.7 million dollars per day, and about 31.3 billion dollars per year.

Calculating with the 2024 median household income in the U.S. of 83,730 dollars, an average American family would need to work for over 11 million years to accumulate wealth equivalent to Musk's.

Philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns once wrote that the wealth growth of the world's richest people far exceeds the cognitive boundaries of ordinary individuals. She estimated that if Musk works 70 hours a week and takes no vacations until the age of 75, his hourly wage during his career would be about 4.2 million dollars. Musk is known for his intense work ethic—after acquiring Twitter, he claimed his weekly work hours jumped from about 80 hours to over 120 hours.

Imagining Purchasing Power: From 2.4 Million Homes to All NFL Teams

To illustrate the purchasing power of 970 billion dollars: this money could buy approximately 2.4 million average American homes; or purchase all 32 NFL teams and all NBA teams, with over 500 billion dollars remaining; or assemble a fleet of over 10,000 Gulfstream G700 private jets and cover five years of operating costs (including fuel); or simultaneously acquire Accenture, FedEx, Home Depot, UPS, Target, Kroger, Starbucks, CVS Health, Albertsons, Cracker Barrel, and Campbell's, employing over 4 million people in total.

Historical Coordinates: Surpassing Rockefeller and Aligning with Industrial Giants

Measured as a percentage of GDP, Musk has surpassed the historically recognized wealthiest person in America, Rockefeller. Rockefeller accumulated wealth of about 1.4 billion dollars in 1937, approximately 1.5% of the U.S. GDP at the time; Musk's wealth represents roughly 3% of the current U.S. GDP, which is twice that percentage.

Rockefeller capitalized on the wave of industrialization to build Standard Oil into a monopolistic giant, ultimately forced to break up by the federal government. Musk's wealth is built on the fronts of electric vehicles, commercial space travel, and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the success of Tesla and SpaceX has also generated billions in returns for investors who bet on Musk, creating a large number of millionaire employees.