Elon Musks’s wealth has jumped more than $170 billion since Election Day, according to a Washington Post analysis, capping off a year that saw the tech billionaire go all in supporting Donald Trump and Republican candidates with a combined $277 million contribution.
A substantial portion of that increase is driven by Tesla’s soaring share price, according to the analysis. Musk owns a reported 12 percent of the electric automaker, the world’s most valuable car company, and Tesla shares are up about 70 percent since the election.
“Elon stuck his neck out, he made a big bet — and he was right,” Gene Munster, managing partner at investment firm Deepwater Asset Management, told the newspaper of Musk’s recent moves.
Musk’s current net worth is roughly $455 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, and is the wealthiest person on the planet. Last week, Musk became the first person in history to be worth more than $400 billion dollars.
Beyond the Tesla surge, aerospace firm SpaceX has been another key driver of Musk’s growing wealth.
The company is reportedly considering a tender offer plan for investors to purchase up to $1.25 billion in employee shares, and for SpaceX to buy $500 million in common stock itself, valuing the company at $350 billion. The plan would represent a doubling in value for the rocket firm in just a year, and make the company the most valuable private start-up in the world.
Musk, who will co-chair Trump’s non-governmental Department of Government Efficiency initiative (DOGE, names after his bitcoin), will have an unprecedented position as a business owner, the world’s richest man, a and a key voice in the incoming presidential administration.
Companies like SpaceX and Tesla have billions of dollars at stake with the government in the form of federal contracts, subsidies, and regulations that could impact key priorities for Musk like artificial intelligence and self-driving cars.
Musk has a standalone AI company, xAI, and heavily incorporates AI into Tesla vehicles.
The alliance with Trump already appears to be impacting key objectives for Musk.
The Trump transition team is reportedly considering scrapping a car-crash data reporting requirement that Musk has opposed in the past, according to Reuters.
As Trump heads to the White House, a variety of tech companies have been singnaling their support or openness to engaging with the incoming administration.
Amazon and Meta reportedly plan to donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, while Trump hosted Apple CEO Tim Cook at Mar-a-Lago last week.
On Monday, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son announced a $100 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years during a visit with Trump at Mar-a-Lago.
