NEW YORK, December 11. /TASS/. US entrepreneur Elon Musk has become the first person whose fortune reached $400 billion, Bloomberg reported.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth was most recently driven up by a share sale of his privately held SpaceX, which boosted his wealth by $50 billion to $439.2 billion.
Musk’s net worth dropped significantly in late 2022, by about $200 billion, but it has recovered since then, especially in the last few months. Donald Trump’s presidential election win in November also helped.
Tesla stock went up by 65% since before the election on expectations that rules for self-driving cars will be simplified and tax credits for electric vehicles will be eliminated, undercutting Tesla’s competitors. Besides, the value of Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, has more than doubled to $50 billion in recent months.
The businessman is set to take a key role in Trump’s administration as co-head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, giving him a direct line to the Oval Office.
Earlier this week, SpaceX and its investors agreed to purchase $1.25 billion of shares from employees and other company insiders, driving up its valuation to about $350 billion and making SpaceX the most valuable private startup in the world.