Sufiyan Mortuza (KNITTING MACHINE OPERATOR HELPER)

The Boring Company is relatively smaller compared to Tesla or SpaceX, but it contributes to Musk’s diversified portfolio. Its projects, like tunnel construction and underground transit, are gaining traction in a few U.S. cities. While it doesn’t dramatically increase his net worth, successful contracts and patents add value and bolster investor confidence in Musk’s innovation ecosystem. You can check their latest projects here.

Musk hitting $500 billion was a perfect storm of several factors coming together. The main driver was Tesla's incredible market cap growth - the company went from around $100 billion in early 2020 to over $1 trillion at its peak. Since Musk owns about 13% of Tesla, that alone created hundreds of billions in wealth. Then you have SpaceX's valuation explosion - from $36 billion in 2020 to over $200 billion by 2025, driven by Starlink's success and NASA contracts. The AI boom also boosted xAI's valuation to tens of billions. What made Musk unique was having multiple companies in hyper-growth sectors simultaneously:- Tesla leading the EV revolution- SpaceX dominating private space- xAI riding the AI waveNo other billionaire had this combination of companies in exactly the right industries at the right time. The concentrated nature of his wealth in these high-growth companies, rather than diversified across slower-growing assets, allowed for this unprecedented wealth accumulation.

The dip was mainly due to short-term market volatility. Tesla shares fell slightly after a quarterly earnings miss, which temporarily reduced Musk’s net worth. Additionally, broader stock market corrections and speculation about interest rates contributed to the temporary drop. It didn’t reflect a loss of assets, just a paper decrease tied to stock valuations.

As someone who tracks billionaire political influence, Musk's 2025 political activities had measurable effects on his wealth. His very public shift toward conservative politics alienated some Tesla buyers in blue states - I saw several surveys showing decreased purchase intent among liberal voters. However, this was offset by increased support from conservative buyers who previously avoided EVs. The net effect on Tesla's bottom line was probably neutral, but the real impact came through policy influence. Musk's lobbying around AI regulation definitely benefited xAI by creating a more favorable regulatory framework. His political connections also helped SpaceX secure the Lunar Gateway expansion contract, which added billions to that company's valuation. So while the day-to-day stock volatility from his tweets was noticeable, the longer-term policy benefits likely had a greater overall positive impact on his net worth.