Elon Musk

Elon Musk has cofounded six companies,

including Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company. He owns about 12% of Tesla, excluding options, but has pledged more than half of his shares as collateral for personal loans totaling up to $3.5 billion.

In early 2024,

a Delaware judge nullified Musk’s 2018 agreement to receive options equivalent to an additional 9% of Tesla. Forbes has discounted the value of these options by 50% while awaiting Musk’s appeal.

Founded in 2002,

SpaceX reached a valuation of nearly $180 billion following a tender offer of up to $750 million in December 2023. The company’s stock value has increased fivefold over the past four years.

Musk acquired Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion,

despite later attempting to withdraw from the deal. He currently owns about 74% of the company, now rebranded as X. According to Fidelity’s valuation as of December 2023, Forbes estimates that Musk’s stake in X is now worth nearly 70% less than what he originally paid for it.