The year of Elon Musk: How 2025 pushed one man closer to a trillion dollars

Elon Musk has become the first person ever worth more than $600 billion, after a sharp jump in the valuation of his rocket maker SpaceX, according to Forbes.

SpaceX earlier this month launched a tender offer that values the closely held company at about $800 billion, roughly double its valuation in August.

Musk owns about 42% of SpaceX, lifting the value of his stake by roughly $168 billion and pushing his net worth to an estimated $677 billion as of Monday, according to Forbes calculations.

The surge cements Musk’s position as the world’s richest person by a wide margin and brings him closer to becoming the world’s first trillionaire.

Elon Musk’s fortune in 2025

As the year 2025 knocked on the door, Musk became the first person in history to surpass a net worth of $400 billion after an insider share sale of SpaceX added around $50 billion to his fortune.

Musk’s fortune particularly skyrocketed after the November 5 presidential election which Donald Trump won decisively to return to the White House.

The rally was believed to be on the optimism about federal policies potentially favouring the electric vehicle maker.

The billionaire even went on to co-chair the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which provided recommendations on reducing government spending.

Musk announced his departure from the Trump administration in May, capping a turbulent 130-day stint as a Special Government Employee that saw sweeping efforts to slash federal spending, widespread internal clashes, and an ultimately unceremonious exit.

His departure marked the end of a controversial chapter in Trump’s administration, punctuated by mass layoffs, the dismantling of key agencies, and repeated litigation. He encountered sharp resistance from within the federal government and achieved far less than expected.

Musk and Trump fell apart as the world's richest person launched a fierce campaign against the US President’s signature spending legislation.

The feud turned ugly after the US Senate slogged through a marathon voting session on Trump’s sweeping tax cut and spending bill.

The sweeping tax and spending measure ended the popular $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit by the end of 2025, a move that directly impacted Musk’s electric car company, Tesla. The simmering tensions between Trump and Musk exploded into a public spectacle in June, sending Tesla shares into a nosedive that wiped out more than $100 billion in market value.

The verbal sparring began after Trump publicly criticised Musk for attacking the administration’s sweeping tax cut and spending legislation. The president lamented their frayed relationship, saying, “I’m very disappointed with Elon.”

“I would have won Pennsylvania regardless of Elon,” Trump said from the Oval Office.

Musk responded within minutes on X, the social media platform he owns, claiming: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

The clash escalated further when Trump took to his own social platform, Truth Social, suggesting Tesla’s lucrative federal subsidies and contracts should be cut.

“The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts,” Trump posted. “I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it.”

The president claimed he had personally asked Musk to leave the White House, and that the Tesla CEO “just went CRAZY!”

“Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY,” the president said.

Musk then issued a stunning accusation, posting on X: "Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!"

The explosive claim triggered immediate market fallout. Tesla shares, already down 9% after Trump’s initial remarks, plummeted further as investors reacted to Musk’s Epstein allegation and the potential threat to Tesla’s federal contracts.

The sell-off erased over $100 billion in market capitalisation.

Musk’s net worth also dropped below the $400 billion mark in June.

His net worth soared again to hit $500 billion in early October 2025, making him the first person ever to reach that milestone due to soaring Tesla stock and high valuations for SpaceX.

SpaceX is targeting an initial public offering in 2026 that could value the company at around $1.5 trillion, according to Forbes. Such a listing would likely propel Musk’s net worth beyond $1 trillion, even without gains from his other businesses.

At the new valuation, Musk’s stake in SpaceX, estimated at about $336 billion, has become his single most valuable asset. His roughly 12% holding in electric carmaker Tesla is worth about $197 billion, excluding stock options from his 2018 CEO pay package that were voided by a Delaware judge in January 2024. Forbes has discounted the value of those options by 50%, to about $69 billion, while Musk appeals the ruling.

Tesla could still provide Musk another route to a trillion-dollar fortune. In November, shareholders approved a new performance-based compensation plan that could grant Musk stock worth up to $1 trillion before taxes and vesting costs, if Tesla meets ambitious long-term market value and operating targets.

Musk also controls artificial intelligence venture xAI Holdings, which is reported to be in talks to raise funds at a valuation of about $230 billion. Forbes estimates Musk owns roughly 53% of the company, valuing his stake at about $60 billion.

Musk’s wealth has grown at an unprecedented pace over the past five years. His fortune stood at about $25 billion in early 2020 before a surge in Tesla shares helped make him the world’s richest person in 2021. He crossed $300 billion in late 2021, $400 billion in December 2024 and $500 billion in October this year, according to Forbes.

Musk now holds an estimated $425 billion lead over the world’s second-richest person, Google co-founder Larry Page, whose net worth is put at about $252 billion.