Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the first person to reach a net worth of $500 billion. According to Forbes’s billionaires index, the tech CEO’s net wealth stood at $500.1 billion as of 4:15 p.m. ET on October 1. The jump was helped by a rebound in Tesla shares and rising valuations of his other companies. Musk was followed by Oracle founder Larry Ellison as the world’s second-richest person with a net worth of about $350.7 billion.

What caused Elon Musk’s net worth to cross $500 billion

Notably, Elon Musk’s fortunes are closely tied to Tesla where he owns more than 12% of the company. After a rocky start to the year, Tesla shares have been rising as Musk shifted his focus back to his companies. Stocks of the EV maker have increased by more than 14% this year. On Wednesday (October 1), Tesla shares rose 3.3%, adding more than $6 billion to his fortune. Musk’s other ventures, including AI startup xAI and rocket company SpaceX, have also seen their valuations climb. xAI was last valued at $75 billion in July and is rumored to be aiming for $200 billion. According to a Bloomberg report, SpaceX is also valued at about $400 billion after recent funding discussions.

Elon Musk purchases $1 billion in Tesla stock

Last month, Elon Musk purchased nearly $1 billion worth of EV maker’s shares. As per a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the tech billionaire bought the stock indirectly through a trust on September 12. This marked Musk’s first open-market purchase of the stock since February 2020, with about 2.57 million shares bought.The stock purchases then coincided with Tesla’s board of directors chairman Robyn Denholm defending Musk’s $1 trillion proposed pay package saying the compensation should depend on his ability to achieve ‘seemingly impossible goals.’