Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

How Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk spends his billions

Elon Musk’s net worth is soaring in 2020, as Tesla’s surging stock price has roughly quadrupled since the start of the year.

Musk owns about 20% of Tesla’s stock, a stake that’s worth more than $50 billion, according to research firm Wealth-X. Overall, Musk’s personal net worth is estimated to be at least $66.7 billion, according to Wealth-X, which provided CNBC Make It with estimates of the value of Musk’s assets as of August 13. The rest of Musk’s net worth includes a stake in private aerospace startup SpaceX that Wealth-X values at $15.3 billion, along with cash and other substantial holdings, including multiple multimillion-dollar real estate holdings.

(In fact, Tesla’s stock continued to soar this week ahead of a stock split later this month which Wall Street analysts believe could cause even more demand for the hot stock.)

Tesla’s billionaire CEO, who is also the chief executive of SpaceX and founder of The Boring Company, has jumped up the billionaire rankings amid Tesla’s stock surge. Musk is now firmly in the top 10 of Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, ranking fourth, just ahead of France’s LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault and behind Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. That’s a substantial rise for Musk, who ranked 46th on the Billionaires Index in May 2019.

So how does one of the world’s wealthiest people make and spend his fortune?


Real Estate

When he’s not busy running multiple companies, Musk is pretty active in the real estate market. After Musk tweeted in early May that he planned to sell off nearly all of his physical possessions and “own no house,” multiple properties owned by the billionaire reportedly hit the market, including a 47-acre estate located in Hillsborough, California, a pricey location in the San Francisco Bay Area.


That property, which features a 10-bedroom Mediterranean-style mansion built in 1916, has an asking price of roughly $35 million.

In June, Musk reportedly sold a 16,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom mansion in Los Angeles’ Bel Air neighborhood for $29 million to a Chinese tech billionaire, NetEase.com CEO William Ding, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Based on Wealth-X’s estimates of Musk’s assets, the billionaire still owns at least four properties in the Los Angeles area that are worth nearly $40 million combined. Those include a 33,976-square-foot property valued at $5 million and a 1,540-square-foot property valued at $850,000, according to the research firm.


Philanthropy

In 2012, Musk joined the likes of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in signing The Giving Pledge, promising to contribute a majority of his wealth to charitable causes over his lifetime.

In 2015, Musk gave $10 million to the Future of Life Institute, which is aimed at ensuring that artificial intelligence technology is “beneficial to humanity.” And in 2016 he reportedly donated Tesla stock valued at $255 million to his own charitable foundation, called the Musk Foundation.

(It’s worth noting that a 2019 investigation by The Guardian found that, while the Musk Foundation had donated millions of dollars to roughly 160 charities over nearly two decades, the foundation had also given money to a school where Musk’s children matriculated, a charity run by Musk’s brother, “a protest group fighting gridlock on Musk’s commute to SpaceX,” and a sculpture reportedly set on fire at the 2013 Burning Man festival.)

In 2018, Bloomberg reported that Musk had made over $6 million in anonymous donations to the environmental group the Sierra Club. Musk had asked the group to publicize those donations in order to offset backlash that followed his donations of more than $88,000 to Republican politicians at the time, according to Bloomberg.

Cars

Not surprisingly, the electric car CEO also owns a few interesting vehicles. In a 2013 Sotheby’s auction, Musk paid nearly $1 million for a rare 1976 Lotus Esprit sports car that was used in the filming of the 1977 James Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me.” (In the movie, the sports car actually transformed into a submarine.)

Musk’s stable of cars also reportedly includes a 1920 Ford Model T, which he says was a gift from a friend, as well as a Jaguar Series 1 1967 E-type Roadster. In 2017, Musk said those two cars were the only two gasoline-powered cars he owned, though he’s previously owned everything from a 1978 BMW 320i (the first car he ever owned) to a McLaren F1, a rare sports car that Musk says he wrecked in 2000 after buying it for $1 million.

In July 2019, Musk said on Twitter that he mostly drives Tesla’s Model S Performance sedan. The billionaire has also been spotted driving Tesla’s new Cybertruck around southern California.


Investments

Musk has said in the past that he typically only invests money in his own companies. In 2018, Musk himself contributed roughly 90% of the $112.5 million raised that year by his company, The Boring Company, according to The New York Times.

However, in recent years he has also invested undisclosed amounts as a financial backer for tech companies like the artificial intelligence startup DeepMind and the neurotechnology startup NeuroVigil.

In 2015, Musk and other entrepreneurs also contributed to a $1 billion pledge to fund the artificial intelligence research lab OpenAI.


All the rest

Wealth-X reports that Musk also owns $950,000 in exercisable stock options in Tesla, which along with his more than $50 billion stake in the company, accounts for more than 76% of his total net worth.

Meanwhile, Musk’s SpaceX holdings, which Wealth-X values at $15.3 billion, account for almost 23% of his total net worth. The private aerospace corporation recently made history with its first launch of NASA astronauts into space.

Musk also has roughly $660 million in estimated “proceeds from previous salaries, bonuses, investments, dividends and stock transactions,” according to Wealth-X.

Musk famously does not accept a salary as Tesla’s CEO. However, in May, Musk earned the first portion of his massively incentivized pay package that Tesla’s shareholders approved in 2018.

That portion gave Musk an additional 1.7 million Tesla shares (worth more than $700 million at the time, but which are now valued at more than $3.2 billion based on the company’s stock price as of Tuesday). The pay package could ultimately dish out more than $55 billion to Musk over 10 years if Tesla hits a series of required financial milestones by 2028, including a market capitalization of $650 billion. The company’s current market value is over $350 billion, as of Tuesday.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
EU Majority Demands Hungary Reverse Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws
Top Hotel Picks for 2025 Stays in Budapest Revealed
Iron Maiden Unveils 2025 Tour Setlist in Budapest
Chinese Film Week Opens in Budapest to Promote Cultural Exchange
Budapest Airport Launches Direct Flights to Shymkent
Von der Leyen Denies Urging EU Officials to Skip Budapest Pride
Alcaraz and Sinner Advance with Convincing Wins at Roland Garros
EU Ministers Lack Consensus on Sanctioning Hungary Over Rule of Law
EU Nations Urge Action Against Hungary's Pride Parade Ban
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
U.S. Considers Withdrawing Troops from Europe
Russia Deploys Motorbike Squads in Ukraine Conflict
Critics Accuse European Court of Human Rights of Overreach
Spain Proposes 100% Tax on Non-EU Holiday Home Purchases
German Intelligence Labels AfD as Far-Right Extremist
Geert Wilders Threatens Dutch Coalition Over Migration Policy
Hungary Faces Multiple Challenges Amid EU Tensions and Political Shifts
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Any trade deal with US must be based on respect not threats', says EU commissioner
UK Leads in Remote Work Adoption, Averaging 1.8 Days a Week
Thirteen Killed in Russian Attacks Across Ukraine
High-Profile Incidents and Political Developments Dominate Global News
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Ukraine and Russia Conduct Largest Prisoner Exchange of the War
×