- Elon Musk is worth more than Salesforce or Pepsi after a $100 billion wealth gain since April.
- His fortune tanked by $65 billion in the spring but has rallied to $270 billion.
Elon Musk is riding high again after a rough start to the year.
The Tesla CEO's net worth crashed from $229 billion at the start of January to $164 billion by late April, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The $65 billion decline was fueled by Tesla stock tanking more than 40% in that period.
However, shares of the EV maker have surged by over 80% from their April low, driving a more than $100 billion increase in Musk's wealth to $270 billion at Wednesday's close. That includes an almost $50 billion rise since August 7, when Musk's fortune stood at an estimated $223 billion.
The epic comeback means Musk went from being the world's biggest wealth loser for the year in April, to the fourth-greatest gainer with a $41 billion increase. Only Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison have grown their net worth more.
Musk also remains easily the richest person on the planet with a $270 billion fortune — worth more than corporate titans like Salesforce ($262 billion), PepsiCo ($233 billion), or McDonald's ($216 billion). Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, worth $215 billion, and Zuckerberg, worth $202 billion, still trail him by a distance.
Yet it's worth noting that Musk has been much richer in the past. In November 2021, he was worth an astounding $340 billion. Tesla stock is down nearly 40% from there, leaving Musk about $70 billion poorer than at his peak.
Turning the corner
Musk's wealth rebound this year reflects renewed optimism about not just Tesla but the wider stock market and US economy.
The Federal Reserve recently made its first cut to interest rates after hiking them from nearly zero to north of 5% in under 16 months, pushing stocks to record highs and easing inflation and recession fears.
The Tesla chief warned last year that soaring prices, steeper rates, and a looming downturn were bad news for his company.
Consumers had less disposable income to spend on a car, buying one had become more costly and difficult due to higher borrowing costs and stricter lending, and people may have been holding off buying a new car until the economy improved, he said.
In April, Musk announced sweeping layoffs, Tesla published disappointing first-quarter delivery numbers, and investors fretted about price cuts squeezing profit margins and Chinese rivals like BYD taking market share from Tesla. Those myriad concerns tanked the stock, but signs of easing economic pressures have underpinned a recovery in recent weeks.
It's worth noting that Musk's vast fortune also reflects his roughly 42% ownership of SpaceX, the rocket company valued at $210 billion in June, and his stakes in X, Neuralink, xAI, and The Boring Company.