Elon Musk makes $14.39 billion a year. This is based on his escalating net worth over the last ten years. But how did he earn all that money? And is it all in cash? Or is it tied up in company assets? Read on for the full answer.
In this article you’ll learn:
- What is Elon Musk worth?
- How we used different calculation methods to figure out how much he makes a year.
- How to wrap your head around his immense wealth.
See related questions and answers:
How Much Does Elon Musk Make a Year
The quick answer—Elon Musk makes $14.39 billion per year. This is based on the net worth he amassed over the last decade that brought him to $146.5 billion in early 2023. Elon made $135 billion in 2020, and an additional $112 billion in 2021, reaching the peak of $320 billion at one point.
In January 2023, he became a Guinness World Record holder for the largest loss of personal fortune in history—he lost an estimated $182 billion since November 2021.
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Elon Musk: Net Worth, Age, and Other Key Facts
Let’s take a closer look at what the most famous billionaire makes in a year.
Elon Musk’s Profile:
| Full name | Elon Reeve Musk |
| Date of birth | June 28, 1971Â |
| Occupation | Investor; CEO of: Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, and others |
| Net worth | $146.5 billion |
| Yearly income (average) | $14.39 billion |
| Income in 2021 | $112 billion |
| Highest recorded net worth | $338 billion (May 11, 2021) |
| Place of birth | Pretoria, South Africa |
| Residence | Austin, Texas, USA |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA in Economics; BS in Physics) |
| Family | Single; 10 children Parents: Errol and Maye Musk Siblings: Kimbal Musk, Tosca Musk |
Elon Musk’s yearly income: how we calculated itÂ
We’ve decided to focus on averages.Â
1. Elon Musk’s average income (2013–2023)
Elon Musk first became a billionaire in 2012—ending the year with $2.6 billion and gracing the pages of Forbes Billionaires list for the first time.
At the time of writing, his net worth’s $146.5 billion. We know it’s not rocket science—but he’s been making $14.39 billion a year on average.
2. How Elon Musk’s net worth changed in the PandemicÂ
While the global COVID outbreak was disastrous for many of us, it was a blast for the filthy rich. Elon Musk raised his net worth by 1,000% in less than two years during the pandemic.Â
He made $135 billion in 2020, and an additional $112 billion in 2021—reaching unprecedented $338 billion at one point.Â
Visualizing Elon Musk and his net worthÂ
It might be hard to grasp how much money Elon Musk actually has (human brains are notoriously bad at big numbers). So let’s simplify:Â
- Elon Musk is so rich, his net worth is larger than the nominal GDP of 150+ countries—including Slovakia, Morocco, and Iceland.Â
- Elon Musk is wealthy enough to end homelessness in America, and still have 90% of his fortune intact.
- Elon Musk could end world hunger for the next five years.
- Elon Musk’s net worth is so high he could buy 1.3 million of the most expensive Teslas (2023 Model S costs around $143,000 now).
- He could “buy” Harvard, Yale, and Stanford—the top three American colleges by endowments.
- Musk is richer than any fictional billionaire—including Scrooge McDuck, Tony Stark, and Jay Gatsby.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Elon Musk?
Elon Musk is 51 years old. He’s basically a baby in billionaire years (only 10% of all billionaires are under 50). Musk’s also the youngest of the top ten richest people in the world.Â
Was Elon Musk born rich?
Yes, although it’s not clear exactly how rich. He was born into a well-to-do South African family. His father—Errol Musk—reportedly owned an emerald mine in Zambia. Musk senior once said about their finances, “We were very wealthy. We had so much money at times we couldn’t even close our safe”.
Elon Musk now denies his estranged father’s account of events—though he did mention in 2014 that the Musks used to own an emerald mine (and even had their own private plane).
How did Elon Musk make his money?
Like we said, he wasn’t exactly born poor. But that’s not the whole story. Elon Musk has had a pretty straightforward strategy of money-making. As well as being wise with his money, he primarily made his fortune by becoming an early investor in companies like Tesla.
What companies does Elon Musk own?
After buying Twitter in October 2022, Elon Musk currently owns five companies:
- Tesla—the largest manufacturer of electric cars in the world.
- SpaceX—a spacecraft manufacturer that became the first private company to send humans into space.
- Twitter—a social media network, and the newest $44 billion addition to Elon’s portfolio.
- The Boring Company—an infrastructure company that focuses on high-speed tunnels and city transit.
- Neuralink—a neurotech company developing brain microchips that would turn us all into cyborgs (maybe).
How did Elon Musk get so rich during the pandemic?
Elon Musk grew his fortune tenfold during COVID-19. But he wasn’t the only one—tycoons thrived in the pandemic. The Federal Reserve pumped trillions of dollars into the stock market—making stocks soar for months.
No prizes for guessing who reaped the most benefits. Elon Musk’s assets ballooned thanks to the meteoric rise of Tesla’s stock (the company reached a $1 trillion market cap in 2021). But life is like a swing, and so is economics—the higher you rise, the harder you fall.
The world’s billionaires collectively lost over $1.4 trillion in 2022—and Elon Musk was the biggest loser among them.Â
How much money did Elon Musk make in 2022?
That’s the neat part—he didn’t make any. Elon Musk lost money in 2022. He started the year with around $270 billion, and ended it with $146.5 billion—which means he lost about $123.5 billion in 2022. Looks like his lucky star might have burned out.
Sources
See all
Age distribution of billionaires globally 2021 | Statista. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/621046/age-distribution-of-billionaires-globally/
Billionaire Wealth Losses in 2022 Hit $1.4 Trillion Led by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos—Bloomberg. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-12-29/billionaire-wealth-losses-in-2022-hit-1-4-trillion-led-by-elon-musk-jeff-bezos
Covid-19: A new billionaire has been minted nearly every day during the pandemic | CNN Business. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/22/economy/billionaires-poverty-oxfam-davos/index.html
Elon Musk suffers worst loss of fortune in history amid “market madness” | Guinness World Records. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2023/1/elon-musk-suffers-worst-loss-of-fortune-in-history-amid-market-madness-731988
Elon Musk Tells Me His Secret Of Success (Hint: It Ain’t About The Money) – Forbes. (2014, August 2). https://web.archive.org/web/20140802011449/http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2014/07/28/elon-musk-tells-me-his-secret-of-success-hint-it-aint-about-the-money/
Elon Musk’s Dad Tells BI About the Family’s Casual Attitude to Wealth. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musks-dad-tells-bi-about-the-familys-casual-attitude-to-wealth-2018-2?IR=T
Elon Musk’s family once owned an emerald mine in Zambia—Here’s the fascinating story of how they came to own it | News24. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.news24.com/news24/bi-archive/how-elon-musks-family-came-to-own-an-emerald-mine-2018-2
Estimating Large Numbers—Landy—2013—Cognitive Science—Wiley Online Library. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cogs.12028
How much money would it take to end world hunger? | Oxfam. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/how-much-money-would-it-take-to-end-world-hunger/
Ten richest men double their fortunes in pandemic while incomes of 99 percent of humanity fall | Oxfam International. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/ten-richest-men-double-their-fortunes-pandemic-while-incomes-99-percent-humanity
Tesla is now worth more than $1 trillion | CNN Business. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/25/investing/tesla-stock-trillion-dollar-market-cap/index.html
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The Fed helped fuel stock market boom—But deepened income inequality—The Washington Post. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2021/04/26/federal-reserve-interest-rates-inequality/
