Elon Musk is richer than Larry Page, Larry Ellison & Jeff Bezos combined as worth surges past $740 billion — Here's how

Elon Musk has become the first person ever worth over $700 billion, according to the Forbes real-time billionaire ranking, thanks to the Delaware Supreme Court reinstating his massive $56 billion pay package from Tesla in 2018.

The SpaceX and Tesla chief is now richer than the next three tech billionaires on the list combined — Google's Larry Page (worth $252.6 billion), Oracle's Larry Ellison (242.7 billion), and Amazon's Jeff Bezos ($239.4 billion), data showed. He exceeds Larry Page alone by nearly $500 billion.

Separately, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI) showed the world's richest man is worth $642 billion, at time of writing.

What is driving Elon Musk's extraordinary wealth surge?

The surge in net worth for Elon Musk came after the Delaware Supreme Court on 19 December (US time) reinstated his Tesla stock options worth $139 billion that were voided last year, Forbes reported.

The $56 billion pay package given in 2018 was restored last week after two years of contention. In an earlier ruling in 2024, the same court had held that the massive pay package was “improper and inequitable”.

This comes on the back of Elon Musk hitting the $600 billion milestone earlier this month following reports that his rocket company SpaceX is likely to list.

Prior to that, Tesla stock also rose (consequently increasing Elon Musk's wealth), after the board in early November approved an unprecedented $1 trillion pay package for the tech tycoon.

Overall, in 2025, Forbes data showed the world's richest man had a bumper year — adding over $340 billion to his wealth. This is more than each of the total worth of anyone on the publication's billionaires list this year.

What does Elon Musk's wealth comprise?

According to the Forbes Billionaire ranking, Elon Musk's $749 billion worth is largely derived from:

• Stakes in seven companies — Tesla, SpaceX, artificial intelligence startup xAI, and other ventures such as brain implant firm Neuralink and tunneling startup The Boring Company.
• Elon Musk owns around 12% of Tesla and 42% in SpaceX — his highest earning holdings.
• He also owns about 33% of XAI Holdings (which includes the social media platform called X, rebranded from Twitter).

Elon Musk set to become world's first trillionaire?

AP and Fortune in separate reports have noted that Elon Musk could very likely take home a fat pay cheque and more Tesla shares regardless of achieving the toughest targets in his $1 trillion pay package from the automaker.

Approved on November 6, 2025, the $1 trillion pay package could make Elon Musk the world first-ever trillionaire. How? Well, the 10-year package is structured in 12 tiers that “unlock” as and when the Tesla chief achieves a milestone. Notably, the lowest tiers are easily achievable, and once “unlocked” give Elon Musk nearly a guaranteed payout regardless of whether the tougher targets are met.

• For example, he is required to sell a cumulative 20 million Tesla vehicles over 10 years — the company has already sold 8 million, which makes the effective requirement 12 million. In the past four quarters, Tesla has already delivered 1.9 million cars, at an average 2 million cars annually, by year six he can ring the bell on that goal, with minimal increase, it added.
• Another example is the target of taking valuation to $2 trillion — Elon Musk has on previous occasions boosted the stock by building expectations (i.e. robotaxis, full self-driving, etc.) and all he has to do is keep the average at or above $2 trillion for six months, and in the last 30 days, to lock in the payout.

According to the Fortune report, on average, Elon Musk is expected to net a $900 million payout — $90 million each year. At his worst performance, if Tesla shares end at $1.8 trillion market cap or below the $2 trillion (first valuation milestone), Elon Musk still makes $727 million, the report added.