Elon Musk spent $277 million on the election. His net worth has since increased more than $170 billion
Elon Musk’s net worth has climbed by more than $200 billion in 2024, a massive increase in the same year that the world’s richest person spent at least $277 million backing Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.
The bulk of the increase, more than $170 billion, has come since Election Day.
Trump’s election sent stock in electric automaker Tesla, a company central to Musk’s wealth and where he is CEO, soaring. Shares were trading at prices around 70 percent higher on Friday than on Election Day.
As of Friday, Musk’s fortune was about $442 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That estimate includes a pay package from Tesla worth more than $50 billion that is held up in court after a Delaware judge ruled to strike it down in January and upheld her decision this month. Tesla has pledged to appeal.
Trump has indicated he will be friendly to businesses and investors of all kinds when he returns to office. Musk’s empire is poised to especially benefit from the president-elect’s promised cuts to regulation — and potentially also overt favors to the tech billionaire, who has become a loyal political lieutenant. [Continue reading…]