Elon Musk remains the world’s richest person in 2026, with an estimated net worth of $1.1 trillion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List. His wealth is driven largely by his holdings in Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, X and other ventures, and his fortune continues to reflect the rapid growth of his companies across electric vehicles, rockets, satellite internet and artificial intelligence.
Musk’s political profile expanded significantly after Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, when he became one of Trump’s most visible supporters during the campaign. He was later appointed to help lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, with a mandate to reduce federal spending and regulations. Musk said in May 2025 that his role with the administration had ended, but his public comments and political influence continued to attract attention.
His business empire also saw major developments. Tesla remained one of the most valuable automakers in the world, while SpaceX continued to expand Starlink and reached a historic milestone with its June 2026 initial public offering. The offering briefly valued SpaceX at more than $2 trillion and helped push Musk into the position of the world’s first trillionaire, underscoring the extraordinary scale of his assets.
Musk first crossed the $400 billion mark in December 2024, becoming the first person in history to reach that level. His wealth has remained well ahead of other global billionaires despite periodic changes in the rankings.
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison ranks second on the list, with an estimated net worth of $229.3 billion. Most of his wealth comes from his longtime stake in Oracle, where he serves as chairman and chief technology officer. Ellison’s fortune jumped in 2025 during the artificial intelligence boom as Oracle shares climbed on the back of AI-related deals and cloud computing growth. In September 2025, he briefly became the second person ever to exceed $400 billion in net worth and temporarily overtook Musk before Musk returned to the top.
Other leading billionaires include Larry Page, with $295.1 billion, Sergey Brin with $272.2 billion and Jeff Bezos with $246.7 billion, according to the rankings cited in the article.
A large share of Musk’s wealth comes from his estimated 12 percent stake in Tesla, equal to about 412 million shares. He has also pledged 58 percent of his Tesla shares as collateral for personal loans totaling $3.5 billion. In 2022, Musk sold $40 billion in Tesla stock to help finance his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, which he later renamed X. Although he still owns about 79 percent of the company at the original valuation, X’s value has fallen sharply since then.
Musk also holds major stakes in SpaceX and xAI. He owns about 43 percent of SpaceX, which was valued at $180 billion in its most recent funding round and was estimated at $350 billion in December 2024. He also owns about 54 percent of xAI, which was valued at $50 billion as of November 2024.
