• Elon Musk has had a big year with Tesla and SpaceX soaring in value, supercharging his net worth.
• He helped Donald Trump win reelection and intends to transform the US government in 2025.
• Scroll down for seven charts showing how Musk's 2024 played out.

Elon Musk has had a year for the record books.

His businesses have taken off, with Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and Neuralink all touching new valuation highs. Their success has boosted Musk's net worth to above $450 billion for the first time, putting him over $200 billion ahead of the world's second-richest person, Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

Musk has also become a power player in US politics after wielding his cash and clout to help win Donald Trump a second term in office. As one of the president-elect's closest advisors, he's now gearing up to overhaul the US government.

The situation seems worse at X, formerly Twitter, after Musk's $44 billion takeover and reshaping of the platform sparked an advertiser exodus.

Take a look at Musk's 2024 in charts (all data is accurate as of Friday, December 20):

1. Charging ahead

Tesla shares have shot up as much as 85% this year, driving the electric vehicle maker's market value above $1.4 trillion for the first time. They've since retreated but continue to trade near record levels.

The automaker has benefited from market buzz around artificial intelligence — which it's harnessing to develop self-driving cars and humanoid robots — plus a robust US economy and the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates.

Investors are also betting that Musk's businesses will benefit from his close ties to Trump, which could translate into less stringent regulations, government subsidies, tariff exemptions, and more.

2. Reaching for the stars

SpaceX's valuation nearly doubled from $180 billion at the end of last year to $350 billion this month, based on the price paid by the company and its backers for employee shares in its latest tender offer.

Musk's rocket, spacecraft, and satellite communications company made several technological breakthroughs this year. For example, it plucked the first-stage booster of its new Starship out of the air using a massive pair of mechanical "chopsticks" in October.

3. Shifting fortunes

Musk's net worth slumped in the spring as Tesla stock tumbled, dropping below $170 billion at its nadir.

But it rebounded by over $300 billion to touch an unprecedented $486 billion on December 17, as Tesla hit fresh highs and SpaceX notched a $350 billion valuation.

4. Rise of the robots

Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, was only founded in July 2023.

Yet it notched a post-money valuation of $24 billion in May following its Series B funding round. That rose to $50 billion in November, reports say, meaning the maker of the Grok chatbot is worth roughly as much as Monster Beverage.

5. X marks the drop

It remains tricky to gauge the health of X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter that Musk took private in 2022. One way is to use Fidelity's monthly estimates of the value of its stake in the business.

The mutual fund giant's figures imply that X's valuation has crashed since Musk's purchase. The tech billionaire laid off a large part of the company's workforce and relaxed content moderation in support of greater free speech, triggering an advertiser exodus that hammered the company's revenues.

Regardless, Musk recently posted on X that the platform has roughly 1 billion active users, although around 40% of them only log on during important world events.

6. Trump train

Musk was one of the biggest spenders in the US presidential election, deploying over $270 million to back Trump's race for president, run ads against Democrats, and promote conservative viewpoints.

His starring role in Trump's victory and emergence as one of the president-elect's closest advisors and a co-chief of the new Department of Government Efficiency suggests that his investment in the election has paid off.

7. Building brainpower

Neuralink, Musk's neurotechnology company, was valued at $8 billion this summer, up from about $2 billion three years earlier.

The developer of brain-computer interfaces wants to allow people with quadriplegia to control computers with their thoughts. Musk released footage this spring of the first patient to receive one of its brain implants.

• Elon Musk is almost $200 billion richer than Jeff Bezos and worth more than Costco.
• His net worth hit $447 billion after Tesla stock jumped and SpaceX's valuation rose to $350 billion.
• Just five years ago, Musk was worth about $25 billion, and Tesla was valued below $100 billion.

Elon Musk is nearly $200 billion richer than Jeff Bezos, and personally worth more than Costco, after adding $63 billion to his fortune in a single day.

His net worth surged to $447 billion on Wednesday, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after Tesla stock jumped 6% and SpaceX's valuation leaped to $350 billion based on employee share sales.

Musk's fortune has ballooned by $218 billion this year — a sum that exceeds the net worth of every other person on the rich list except Amazon's Bezos ($249 billion) and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg ($224 billion).

Musk is now more than twice as wealthy as Oracle's Larry Ellison ($198 billion), and more than three times as rich as Warren Buffett ($144 billion).

His one-day gain — the largest in the index's history — rivals the total wealth of Binance cofounder Changpeng Zhao, ranked 23rd with a $63.2 billion fortune. It also helped to lift the combined wealth of the 500 richest people on the planet to above $10 trillion for the first time, Bloomberg said.

Musk is now worth more on paper than the vast majority of US public companies, including Costco ($442 billion), Home Depot ($419 billion), and Netflix ($400 billion).

His wealth is largely made up of his roughly 13% stake and some contested stock options in Tesla, and his 42% slice of SpaceX. Musk's other businesses include xAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and X Corp, formerly Twitter.

Tesla shares have surged more than 70% this year to $425 at Wednesday's close, valuing the company at nearly $1.4 trillion. That figure comfortably exceeds the roughly $1 trillion market value of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and approaches the $1.6 trillion value of Zuckerberg's Meta.

The electric vehicle maker's shares have soared as investors bet it will harness artificial intelligence in revolutionary products such as self-driving cars and humanoid robots.

Musk's prominent role in Donald Trump's campaign, and his emergence as a close advisor to the president-elect who's tasked him with streamlining the US government, have also fueled optimism around his companies.

SpaceX is now valued at $350 billion based on the latest price paid by the company and its backers to buy shares from employees, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The Starlink owner's valuation was previously $210 billion after a secondary share sale in June.

It's worth underscoring how dramatic Musk's wealth jump has been. He was worth less than $170 billion as recently as April, and only about $25 billion five years ago — around 1/18 of his net worth now.

Tesla was worth less than $100 billion during the Covid crash of 2020, or about 1/14 of its valuation today.

• Elon Musk's net worth keeps rising.
• Musk's net worth topped $400 billion on Wednesday, making him the first person to reach that mark.
• The billionaire had already gotten $155 billion richer this year, fueled by a rise in Tesla shares.

Elon Musk just keeps getting richer. And now, he's the first-ever person to hit the $400 billion mark.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO's net worth skyrocketed to $439.2 billion on Wednesday — an increase of about $50 billion in just one day, according to Bloomberg figures.

The jump comes after an insider share sale at SpaceX boosted the space exploration company to a $350 billion valuation, making it the most valuable private startup in the world. Musk is believed to own about 42% of the firm, NBC News reported.

Prior to the massive boost on Wednesday, Musk's net worth had already soared by an unmatched $155 billion this year, placing him at $384 billion as of market close on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The index, which has not yet been publicly updated to reflect the latest jump, on Tuesday showed Musk $140 billion ahead of the world's second richest person, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who's worth $244 billion.

The jump comes after the world's richest person broke his wealth record of about $340 billion in late November, which had stood for just over three years.

Musk's soaring wealth also piggybacks on the postelection rally for Tesla stock. Tesla's stock has soared nearly 71% so far this year. Its market cap is $1.23 trillion.

The stock has surged since Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, as investors wagered the electric vehicle maker would benefit from Musk's close ties to the president-elect.

Mark Malek, Siebert's chief investment officer, previously told BI that "some sort of premium has been placed on the stock as a result of Musk's very public involvement in Trump's campaign."

Tesla could continue to make further gains. Analysts at Bank of America said in a note last week that a recent visit to the Austin factory gave them "increased confidence that TSLA is well-positioned to grow in 2025+ with its core EV business … launch of its robotaxi offering, and longer-term from its investments in Optimus."

Tesla is now significantly more valuable than Warren Buffett's conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, which has a market cap of just under $1 trillion.

Musk has a stake of about 13% in Tesla. His latest $439.2 billion net worth is nearly $100 billion higher than the market cap of Salesforce, valued at $344 billion.

Earlier this month, a Delaware judge slapped down Musk's mega pay package from Tesla for the second time. The company said it will appeal the ruling.

Update: December 11, 2024 — This story was updated with Elon Musk's latest net worth, which topped $400 billion.

• Elon Musk reignited his long-running feud with Jeff Bezos in an X post on Thursday.
• Musk said Bezos told people they should sell Tesla and SpaceX stock because Donald Trump would lose.
• Bezos said Musk's claim was "100% not true," to which Musk replied, "I stand corrected."

Elon Musk has taken aim at Jeff Bezos once more, reigniting the war of words between two of the world's richest people.

In an X post on Thursday, Musk said Bezos had told people to dump their shares in his companies because Donald Trump was bound to lose the presidential election.

Hours later, Bezos replied that the claim was "100% not true." That prompted Musk to write, "Well, then, I stand corrected," followed by a crying-with-laughter emoji.

Business Insider was unable to confirm the veracity of Musk's post.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, spent more than $130 million supporting Trump's reelection bid. He stumped for Trump onstage at campaign rallies and warned on X that America would "fall to tyranny" if the former president wasn't reelected.

Since the election, Musk has been spending time at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's Florida resort, and has been appointed by the president-elect to co-lead a "Department of Government Efficiency" to reduce wasteful spending.

He said on X on Wednesday that he'd had little input on the president-elect's cabinet picks.

Musk's post about Bezos suggested that the Amazon founder and executive chairman expected Musk's close ties to Trump to mean Tesla and SpaceX would take a hit if Trump lost the election.

Tesla shares soared 44% between November 4 — the day before the election — and November 11, suggesting investors saw the automaker benefiting from a Trump win. SpaceX isn't publicly listed, but its shares are traded on private markets.

Tech and wealth rivals

Musk and Bezos are worth more than $500 billion combined, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

They hold leadership roles at Tesla and Amazon, two of the world's most valuable companies. They're rivals in areas such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and self-driving cars, and they both run space companies that compete for government contracts.

As a result, any personal animosity that Musk holds toward Bezos could be significant. He's previously labeled Bezos a copycat, trolled him for being No. 2 on the rich list, complained about his lawsuits against SpaceX, and posted: "Time to break up Amazon. Monopolies are wrong!"

Thomas Roulet, a professor of organizational sociology and leadership at the University of Cambridge, told BI in an email: "We can definitely expect Elon Musk to exploit his proximity to the Trump administration, especially in areas where he faces direct competition from other tech firms and when regulations can make or break economic success — self-driving cars, for example."

"This message about Bezos is a way to give himself an excuse to legitimately do so, by saying that 'Bezos started it,'" Roulet added.

Bezos has voiced skepticism at Musk's vision of colonizing Mars and once suggested that Musk's takeover of Twitter, now X, could complicate things for Tesla in China.

Musk has clashed with other tech leaders, including Bill Gates. He took umbrage at the Microsoft cofounder for shorting Tesla stock, questioning why Gates would bet against a clean-energy company while ringing the alarm on the climate crisis.

Amazon, Tesla and representatives for Trump didn't respond to requests for comment.

November 22, 2024: This story has been updated to include Bezos' response to Musk's Thursday X post, and Musk's response to Bezos.