Compiled by Dylan Bettencourt
- Pretoria born billionaire Elon Musk became the first trillionaire in the world after a massive SpaceX share sale on Thursday.
- Investors pushed the total personal wealth of Elon Musk past one trillion dollars when SpaceX shares started trading on Friday.
Pretoria born businessman Elon Musk has become the first trillionaire in the world. His wealth went past the mark when shares for his rocket company SpaceX started trading on Friday.
The jump in his money follows a record share sale on Thursday. SpaceX raised US$75-billion in that sale, which pushed the value of his rocket company shares to US$866-billion.
Before this, Forbes said Musk had a net worth of around US$780-billion. He was already far ahead of Larry Page, who is next in line.
Matt Durot from Forbes Wealth said the second richest person has only around US$300-billion. Only one other person, Larry Ellison, has ever been worth US$400-billion.
Musk is 54 years old. He was born in Pretoria to a Canadian mother and a South African father, and finished his studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997.
He became the Tesla CEO in 2008. He made Tesla the most valuable car company in the world, but faced court fights over a US$56-billion pay package.
Former car boss Bob Lutz said Musk renewed respect for American engineering. Experts call his business world the Muskonomy because investors pay extra just for his vision.
Musk bought Twitter for US$44-billion in 2022. Last year, he joined United States President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, which caused fights and hurt Tesla sales in 2025.
Musk also started Neuralink and The Boring Company. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who used to fight Musk in court, called him the Edison of our time.
Pictured above: Pretoria born businessman Elon Musk has become the world first trillionaire.
Image source: Flickr
