How the number one entrepreneur built his wealth: 25 years of Elon Musk's transformations

When we talk about how Musk made his fortune, we need to understand: this is not a single success story, but a whole cascade of calculated risks, unexpected turns, and relentless work on ideas that at the time of their emergence seemed impossible.

From Zip2 to PayPal: the first million

In the early 1990s, young Musk, after studying economics and physics at the University of Pennsylvania, did not pursue a PhD. Instead, he chose a different path. In 1995, together with his brother Kimbal, he founded Zip2 — a mapping software that helped users find local businesses. The bet paid off: the company was sold to Compaq for $307 million, and Musk himself received $22 million from the deal.

But he didn’t stop at a guaranteed and safe path. In 1999, Musk launched X.com — an online payment service, which after merging with competitor Confinity transformed into PayPal. In 2003, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion, and Musk exited the deal with $180 million in his pocket. He was no longer just a wealthy person — he became an entrepreneur who understands how to scale a business.

SpaceX: when a person decides to dream about Mars

In the early 2000s, Musk had a vision that seemed out of reach for most: a private company creating rockets cheaper than government agencies. In 2002, he invested his own $100 million into founding Space Exploration Technologies Company (SpaceX).

The first years were terrible. The first three launches of the Falcon 1 rocket ended in failure. Musk later recounted that the fourth launch in September 2008 was his last chance — if it failed, the company would go bankrupt. But the rocket reached orbit. That was a turning point.

Today, SpaceX is the most valuable private aerospace company in the world. The company developed Falcon 9 with 9 engines, Falcon Heavy (one of the most powerful rockets in the world), and the ambitious Starship project — a huge rocket designed to deliver humans to Mars. The Starlink project has deployed a global network of about 6,000 satellites to provide internet access in remote corners of the planet.

Tesla: electrifying the automotive industry

Although Musk did not found Tesla (the company was established in 2003), he became the main investor and CEO in 2008. His bet on electric vehicles seemed promising: the entire auto industry was focused on traditional engines, while Musk insisted that the future belongs to batteries and motors.

In 2010, Tesla went public at $17 per share. Today, the stock price has exceeded $260, and the company is the most valuable automaker by market capitalization. Tesla has created a whole ecosystem: from electric cars of the Model S, Model X, Model Y series to solar panels and energy storage systems.

By 2024, Musk’s wealth in Tesla shares amounts to approximately 715 million shares with a 20.6% stake. This is a multiple of his initial investment.

Cash flows: how Musk’s wealth is distributed

As of April 2024, Musk’s personal net worth was approximately $195 billion, making him the second-richest person on the planet. However, most of this money is not cash but the value of his shares:

• 70% of the capital is in Tesla and SpaceX
• The rest is divided among cash, real estate, and other assets
• In 2023, he sold his last properties, as if to never “cling to material things”

In early 2024, Musk announced the cancellation of plans to build a Tesla factory in Mexico and to review the location of new Gigafactories after the US elections, reflecting his interest in influencing political decisions in the USA.

Controversial moves: from tweets to lawsuits

Wealth did not protect Musk from scandals. In 2018, his tweet about the possibility of “taking Tesla private at $420 per share” led to an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He reached a settlement but continued to conflict with regulators.

In November 2021, Musk donated 5.044 million Tesla shares worth over $5.7 billion to charity, but did not disclose the specific purpose.

In June 2024, he filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, accusing them of deviating from the original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Musk believed that his $1 billion investment in 2015 was the foundation, but later they shifted course toward commercialization.

New vectors: AI and neural-computer interfaces

In 2016, Musk founded Neuralink — a company developing implanted brain-computer interfaces. The goal: enable paralyzed people to control devices with their thoughts. In 2024, the first patient received an implant and successfully recovered.

He also invests in artificial intelligence through xAI, which is developing the language model Grok. Unlike OpenAI, xAI emphasizes openness and censorship-neutrality — another vector of his influence on the future of technology.

Conclusion: from idea to empire

How Musk made his fortune is not a story about happiness, but about a sequence. He invested his first millions from Zip2 and PayPal into projects that most people considered crazy: a private space company and an electric car in an era of cheap oil.

His capital grows not through speculation, but through the increasing value of the companies he controls. When Tesla rises 20% in a day (as happened in October 2024), his wealth instantly increases by billions. But this mechanism — launching a company, bringing it to influence in the global market, then achieving exponential growth — turns out to be the most effective way to accumulate wealth in the age of technology.