Elon Musk becomes first person worth $700B

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's net worth surged to $749 billion after the Delaware Supreme Court reinstated Tesla stock options worth $139 billion that were voided last year, according to Forbes' billionaires index, Report informs via Reuters.

Forbes estimates that Musk's fortune now stands at a record $749 billion after he successfully appealed the decision.

Forbes had been discounting the value of the Tesla stock options in question by 50% since January 2024, when the Delaware Court of Chancery ruled that the process of awarding the options to Musk in 2018 was unfair due to Musk's control over Tesla's board.

After the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Friday that "rescission [of the options] was an improper remedy," Forbes removed that discount, bumping our estimate of Musk"s net worth by $69.5 billion.

After the ruling, Tesla is Musk's most valuable asset once again.

In addition to his stock options, he also owns 12% of the EV maker's common stock, worth $199 billion, bringing the total value of his Tesla holdings to $338 billion.

And that's not counting a separate, record-breaking pay package Tesla awarded Musk in November, which could give him up to $1 trillion in additional stock (before taxes and the cost of unlocking the restricted shares) if Tesla achieves "Mars shot" performance milestones like growing its market cap more than eightfold over the next ten years.