Billionaire Elon Musk just became the first person who is worth half-a-trillion dollars — and on his way to establishing himself as the globe’s first trillionaire.
That’s according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires tracker.
The media outlet said Musk was worth $500 billion as of Wednesday afternoon.
The news comes as shares of Tesla, which is Musk’s electric vehicle (EV) company, gained nearly 4% as of 3:30 p.m. That added approximately $9.3 billion to his fortune, Forbes noted.
Musk, who became the first person ever worth $400 billion or more in December, is $150 billion ahead of runner-up Larry Ellison,” the media outlet reported.
Tesla reported an increase in sales in the third quarter. It likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Monday.
In the third quarter, we produced over 447,000 vehicles, delivered over 497,000 vehicles and deployed 12.5 GWh of energy storage products — a record for both deliveries and deployments,” the company announced Thursday in a news release. “Thank you to all our customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and supporters who helped us achieve these results.”
The company said sales in the three months through September increased by 7% in comparison to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines.
The stock initially rose sharply on the news, but then fell back into losses, with financial analysts expressing skepticism whether the new number signaled a true turnaround.
In mid-September, news broke that Musk was no longer the wealthiest person in the world. At the time, Ellison, who is the co-founder of the software company Oracle Corporation, had surpassed him.
It followed a stunning forecast for growth from Oracle in the midst of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
AI Changes Everything,” Ellison previously said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
It marked the first time Ellison was in the number one spot, Bloomberg noted.
Ellison helped start Oracle in 1977. He also owns at least 97% of Lanai, which is the sixth-largest island in the Hawaiian Islands, according to The New York Times.
In 2024, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Musk is the CEO of Tesla, as well as owns SpaceX and X. He also recently lead the the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under President Donald Trump.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Associated Press contributed to this report.