Elon Musk, the worlds richest person, on Wednesday became the first to hit $400 billion in net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The value of shares in Tesla, Musks electric vehicle company, have soared in recent months hitting an all-time high of $424.88 a share on Wednesday and closing at a record of $424.77.
But it was an insider share sale in Musks privately held space firm, SpaceX, that helped push his net worth to new heights and make his space company the most valuable private startup in the world.
The sale sent Musks net worth soaring skyward by $50 billion to $439.2 billion, according to Bloombergs estimate.
Its a huge comeback for the billionaire businessman, who owns Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and X, formerly known as Twitter. In 2022, Musk lost between $180 billion and $200 billion as Teslas stock sank.
Musk has seen his net worth soar since President-elect Donald Trumps election win in November.
The tech billionaire was one of Trumps most powerful and outspoken advocates, donating a whopping $250 million to his campaign efforts and pro-Trump PACS, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission, and rallying on his behalf in swing states.
He has remained one of Trumps close confidants and has been selected to lead the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to slash federal spending an idea of Musks that he floated during Trump’s campaign.
Tesla shares have risen about 65% since Trumps win as investors expect the president-elect to speed along the rollout of Musks autonomous vehicles and eliminate tax credits for electric vehicle purchases, a policy that largely helped Teslas rivals.
The value of xAI, Musks artificial intelligence startup, has more than doubled since its last fundraising round in May to $50 billion.
On Wednesday, SpaceX and its investors agreed to buy stock from insiders in a $1.25 billion purchase offer sending the company valuation to $350 billion, according to Bloomberg and CNBC.
SpaceX makes most of its money through government contracts. Nearly $19.8 billion in federal contracts have gone to NASA and the Department of Defense to pay for SpaceXs rockets and satellites since 2008, according to USA Today.
The space company will likely see continued support under the Trump administration. The president-elect praised Musks goal to land astronauts on Mars and attended a SpaceX launch soon after he won the election.
Jared Isaacman, Trumps pick to lead NASA, also has close ties to Musk.
He became the first non-professional astronaut to walk in space earlier this year via a SpaceX rocket and last month called the firm the most innovative, literally impressive organization that Ive ever seen.
He invested $27.5 million in SpaceX in 2021 through his payments firm, according to SEC filings.
Isaacman, worth about $1.7 billion according to Forbes, made his fortune from his payment processing company Shift4 Payments, which he founded at age 16.
A Delaware judge last week denied Musk his excessive 2018 pay package that is now worth more than $100 billion. It was the second such ruling, which Musk blasted as totally crazy.
Even if the pay package is revoked, Musk would still be the richest person in the world.
DALLAS — Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer was fired Friday after three seasons with the team, getting to the Western Conference final each time but never advancing past that for a shot at the Stanley Cup.
General manager Jim Nill made the move less than a week since the Stars ended their season in a 6-3 loss at home to Edmonton in Game 5 of the West final.
The figures were released as the health of the US economy continues to attract close scrutiny amid ongoing fears of a recession risk in the world’s largest economy due to the effects of the US president’s trade war.
Unlike most developed economies, such a downturn is not determined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth, but by a committee of respected economists.
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5:08
Can the UK avoid steel tariffs?
It’s known as the Business Cycle Dating Committee.
It uses employment data, as well as official growth figures, to rule on the status of the economy.
The threat of tariffs, and early salvoes of, the Trump administration’s protectionist agenda were blamed for a sharp slowdown in growth over the first three months of the year.
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4:02
Trump and Musk’s feud explained
Economists have found it hard to predict official data due to the on-off, and often chaotic, nature of tariff implementation.
As such, all official figures are keenly awaited for news of the trade war’s impact on the domestic economy.
Other data this week showed a record 20% plunge in US imports during April.
Next week sees the release of inflation figures – the best measure of whether import duty price increases are working their way through the supply chain and harming the spending power of businesses and consumers.
It’s a key piece of information for the US central bank.
It has paused interest rate cuts, to the fury of the president, over trade war uncertainty.
A forecast by the Paris-based OECD this week highlighted the chance of consumer price inflation rising above 4% later in the year.
It currently stands at an annual rate of 2.3%.
Fears of a US recession and trade war uncertainty have combined most recently with increasing market concerns about the sustainability of US debt, given Mr Trump’s tax cut and spending plans.
US stock markets are largely flat on the year while the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six other major currencies, is down 9% this year and on course for its worst annual performance since 2017.
European stocks entered positive territory in a small nod to the employment data, while US futures showed a similar trend.
The dollar rose slightly.
The reaction was likely muted because the data was well within expectations and seen as positive.
Commenting on the figures Nicholas Hyett, investment manager at Wealth Club, said: “The US labour market has shrugged off the tariff uncertainty that rocked global stock and bond markets in April and May.
“While the Federal government has continued to shed a small number of jobs, the wider economy has more than made up the difference, with the US adding slightly more jobs than expected in May. Wage growth also came in higher than expected – suggesting the economy is in rude health.
“That will be taken as vindication by the Trump administration – which has been clear that the tariffs are aimed squarely at supporting Main Street rather than pleasing Wall Street.
“Less positive from the White House’s point of view is that a strong economy and rising wages gives the Federal Reserve less reason to cut interest rates – pushing yields a touch higher and making the fiscal splurge built into Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that bit more expensive.
“With rate cuts looking less likely, Fed Chair Jay Powell can expect to remain firmly in the president’s firing line once the spat with Musk is over.”
They were once the best of friends, but last night that came to an end – and it all unfolded online as people across the world looked on… and retweeted.
Tension between Elon Musk and Donald Trump had been building for several days after the SpaceX billionaire criticised the US president’s signature tax bill.
While initially it remained cordial, the presidentsuggested his former backer and adviser missed being in government and suffered from “Trump derangement syndrome”, leading to a sudden and dramatic deterioration in relations between the pair.
They have two of the largest platforms in the world, and last night, they turned them on each other. While much of Europe slept through it, here is every insult and barb as it happened… so far.
6.39pm: ‘Big ugly spending bill’
Musk tells Trump his “big ugly spending bill” will make the economic situation worse.
Five minutes later he retweets a video in which he says the bill will increase the US’s deficit to $2.5 trillion (£1.85 trn).
AT 6.48pm he shares a post about the bill’s popularity, simply saying: “Kill bill”.
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Earlier in the evening, Musk reshares a series of posts (dating back to 2012) from Trump’s X account, including ones saying deficits should not be allowed.
He then reshares a post of someone praising him, adding: “Where is the man who wrote these words? Was he replaced by a body double!?”
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He then retweets a meme, making light of Trump’s plan, which links to a poll he had run the previous day.
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Musk starts tweeting about the “big ugly spending bill” again, saying members of Congress didn’t even have time to read it before it was passed.
He continues to tweet about this for most of the night, including accusing the government of “spending America into bankruptcy”.
7.30pm: Who is right?
Musk retweets a poll that shows 76% of 1.5 million voters think he is right in his spat with the president.
7.37pm: Elon was ‘wearing thin’
Trump shares a post on his Truth Social site that accuses Musk of going “crazy” after the president took away his EV mandate.
Image: Trump says he asked Musk to leave his position within the White House. Pic: TruthSocial
Musk responds by sharing a number of former interviews, including a video from 2021 where he says the industry does not need EV tax credits.
Trump then shares a post in which he writes the “easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts”.
He gives no evidence for the claim. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismisses the comment.
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Image: In a post shared on his Truth Social account, the US president says he doesn’t mind Musk ‘turning against’ him. Pic: TruthSocial
9.09pm: Decommissioning Dragon
Following Trump’s statement about terminating his contracts, Musk tweets: “In light of the President’s statement about cancellation of my government contracts, @SpaceX will begin decommissioning its Dragon spacecraft immediately.”
Dragon is the only US spacecraft available to deliver crew to and from the International Space Station.
Two minutes later he retweets a post calling on Trump to be impeached, adding simply: “Yes.”
Image: Musk and Trump in happier times, on the campaign trail in 2024. Pic: AP
9.29pm: Trump’s tariffs
Musk hits out at Trump’s tariffs, resharing a tweet from someone who called them “stupid”.
“The Trump tariffs will cause a recession in the second half of this year,” he adds.
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For the rest of the evening, Musk reshares posts from other users, often adding a laughing face emoji, or the occasional comment, including the words: “If America goes broke, nothing else matters.”
2.20am: Musk says he won’t decommission spacecraft
Just after 2am, an account with a few hundred followers tweets Musk: “This is a shame this back and forth. You are both better than this. Cool off and take a step back for a couple days.”
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