On November 4, 2021 Elon Musk's net worth briefly topped $340 billion. At that point he became the richest person in modern history.
Fueled by Tesla's soaring stock price, on that historic day Elon surpassed a wealth record that had been held uncontested by John D. Rockefeller for more than 80 years. [It is generally accepted that Rockefeller's inflation-adjusted net worth was $340 billion. And for several hours on November 4, as Tesla's share price was stretched to an all-time high, Elon was comfortably above that number.]
Unfortunately, he did not hold that level for long.
Just five days after topping $340 billion, his net worth was back down to $300 billion. And less than a month later, it was down to $250 billion. He shot back up to $300 billion in early January before sagging all the way back down to $199 billion in late February. There were some small gains over the next two weeks, but his fortune had slid back down to $199 billion when Tesla closed at $766 billion on March 14.
That was 21 days ago.
On Monday April 4, Tesla closed at $1,145. That's a 50% gain compared to March 14.
And with that increase, Elon's net worth is back within striking distance of $300 billion. At the market's close on Monday, April 4, Elon's net worth was back up to $290 billion.
As of this writing, he is exactly $100 billion richer than Jeff Bezos, the world's second richest person.
(Photo by PATRICK PLEUL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A New Twitter Investment
And Tesla's soaring share price isn't Elon's only reason to celebrate today.
Back on March 14 when his net worth was sagging down at $199 billion, Elon didn't just mope around and cry.
On Monday Elon disclosed in an SEC filing that he quietly acquired 9.2% of Twitter on March 14. Using Twitter's share price at the time, this stake would have cost him $2.3 billion.
When the world got wind of Elon's investment on Monday, Twitter's share price sky rocketed. Twitter's share price ended the day up 27%. At that level the company had a market cap of $40 billion. At a $40 billion valuation, Musk's 9.2% stake ended Monday worth $3.7 billion. So he's already gained $1.4 billion on paper from his investment.
Tesla gained 5% on the day. That added around $13 billion to his net worth for a total one-day gain of $15 billion.
Oh and btw. Elon is now Twitter's largest individual shareholder. The second-largest shareholder is the mutual fund Vanguard.
Perhaps by coincidence, or perhaps 100% intentionally, Elon's 9.2% stake is exactly four times larger than former CEO Jack Dorsey's 2.3% stake. But keep in mind, Jack Dorsey derives a minuscule amount of his net worth from Twitter. Jack's true bread and butter comes from Square.
