How Much Money Has Elon Musk Made in Each Decade of His Life?

Currently, Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, according to Forbes. He owns around $232 billion, but he did not become wealthy overnight. Musk became wealthy by launching new companies and investing in existing companies.

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In this article, we'll take a look at Musk's wealth over the decades, starting with his boyhood in the 1970s and ending with today.

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As a child, Elon Musk was raised in a wealthy family in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother is a model and dietician, and his father is an engineer and real estate developer.

Because of his family's extensive wealth, status, and resources, he was positioned for future success.

The Musk family increased its wealth in the 1980s with the purchase of a highly successful emerald mine in Zambia. The Musk family wealth is estimated to be over $100 million at the end of the 1980s.

When Elon Musk left South Africa in search of higher education in Canada and then the United States, his massive revenue from the mine provided him with financial security. Musk claims that his family's wealth played little role in his success as an entrepreneur, but his enormous fortune also allowed him to take chances.

Musk began his entrepreneurial career in the 1990s. Musk co-founded Zip2, a software startup that offers city guides, with his brother Kimbal after dropping out of Stanford.

Musk received a sizeable $22 million payout from Zip2 after Compaq paid $305 million for it in 1999.

Musk's fortune increased dramatically during the 2000s.

In 1999, Musk was a cofounder of the online bank X.com. After that, in 2000, X.com merged with rival Confinity, and in 2001 it changed its name to PayPal. eBay paid $1.5 billion to purchase PayPal in 2002. The biggest stakeholder, Musk, walked away with $165 million from the deal.

Of this sum, Musk used $100 million to launch SpaceX in 2002.

Additionally, he started investing early in Tesla, the company founded by Marc Tarpenning and Martin Eberhard. Musk progressively took on a more involved role in the company, rising to the position of CEO in 2008.

By the end of the 2000s, it was estimated that Musk's net worth would have surpassed $1 billion, primarily due to the proceeds from the sale of PayPal and the early success of SpaceX and Tesla.

In the 2010s, Musk made enormous profits as his companies—most notably Tesla—reached previously unheard-of heights. At first, Tesla suffered significant losses and struggled to turn a profit. In 2010, Tesla made its NASDAQ debut at a price of $17 per share. Tesla stock was trading at roughly $27 per share by the end of the decade. Rising demand for electric cars and Tesla's innovative manufacturing and marketing strategies were the main factors in the company's success.

Musk also increased SpaceX's activities during this time, winning numerous profitable NASA contracts.

Musk's net worth stayed between $10 and $20 billion in the 2010s. As Tesla increased its market share and sold more vehicles, Musk's wealth increased. His net worth increased to more than $22 billion by 2019.

Musk has made good money with his 2020s thus far. Due in large part to Tesla's steady growth, his net worth has increased significantly. Just in 2020, his wealth increased by $142 billion. By late 2021, Musk was the richest person on the planet as a result of Tesla's stock price rising to well over $400. He had a $320 billion net worth as of November 2021. His net worth was slightly diminished in December 2022 due to a decrease in Tesla's stock price.