Innovation & Wealth › The information age › The billionaire boom and the inequality debate
Elon Musk: Tesla and SpaceX
b. 1971; SpaceX 2002; joined Tesla 2004· Innovator or entrepreneur· Innovators & entrepreneurs
Well documentedSolid records, texts or physical evidence.
South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk built Tesla into the most valuable carmaker and SpaceX into the leading rocket company, becoming the world's richest person.
See it on the Innovation & Wealth map →What happened
Musk's first fortune came from Zip2 and X.com, which merged into PayPal, sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion. He founded SpaceX in 2002; its reusable Falcon 9 rockets cut launch costs, and its Starlink satellites sell internet worldwide. He led Tesla's 2004 funding round and became CEO in 2008; the Model 3 (2017) made EVs mainstream. He bought Twitter, now X, for $44 billion in 2022. His fortune has topped $400 billion since late 2024; estimates vary.
Impact on society and the economy
He showed private firms could lead in rockets and pushed carmakers to go electric, helped by NASA contracts and EV credits; his politics, pay and 2025 government role divide opinion.
Fortune, legacy and how we know
Company filings, NASA contract records, Delaware court rulings on his Tesla pay, Walter Isaacson's 2023 biography, and Forbes and Bloomberg wealth estimates.
Still debated
Whether Tesla's stock price reflects its car business or bets on robotaxis and robots is hotly debated.
Connections (4)
▸Nikola Tesla lent his name to the carmaker of Elon Musk: Tesla and SpaceXWell documented
The connection
Tesla Motors' founders, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, named the company in 2003 after Nikola Tesla, whose alternating-current induction motor is the ancestor of the motor in its first car, the Roadster. Musk, who joined as lead investor in 2004, embraced the tribute; he has no family or business tie to the inventor.
When and how
Silicon Valley, 2003–2004; Musk led the first major funding round in 2004 and became CEO in 2008.
How we know
Founders' interviews and company histories describe the naming; Musk gave $1 million in 2014 toward a museum at Wardenclyffe, Tesla's former lab on Long Island.
Debates
Who counts as Tesla's founder was long disputed; a 2009 legal settlement lets five people, including Eberhard and Musk, use the title.
▸BYD (Wang Chuanfu) became the main EV rival of Elon Musk: Tesla and SpaceXWell documented
The connection
Musk laughed off BYD in a 2011 interview, but BYD's cheaper cars and in-house batteries let it pass Tesla in total plug-in sales from 2022 and in fully electric cars in 2025. Tesla still earns more per car, but the price war BYD leads has squeezed Tesla's margins in China and beyond.
When and how
China and world markets, 2011–2025; Tesla's Shanghai factory opened in 2019, putting the two head to head in China.
How we know
Both companies' quarterly sales reports and independent industry data show the shift; Musk's 2011 Bloomberg interview is on video.
Debates
Whether BYD's lead rests on subsidies, cheaper labor or better engineering, and whether tariffs can protect Tesla's home market, is debated.
▸Elon Musk: Tesla and SpaceX became the richest person in The billionaire boom and the inequality debateWell documented
The connection
Musk's fortune rests mostly on his Tesla shares and SpaceX stake. As Tesla's stock soared he became the world's richest person in 2021, then the first person estimated above $400 billion (December 2024) and $500 billion (October 2025). His Tesla pay packages, including one shareholders approved in 2025 potentially worth about $1 trillion, became flashpoints in the inequality debate.
When and how
Tesla and SpaceX in Texas and California; Forbes and Bloomberg rankings from 2021; Tesla shareholder votes in 2018, 2024 and 2025.
How we know
Wealth trackers estimate from public Tesla prices and private SpaceX valuations; the figures swing by billions daily, and estimates vary.
Debates
How to value private stakes like SpaceX and xAI, and whether a fortune this size mostly reflects value created or market enthusiasm.
▸Elon Musk: Tesla and SpaceX co-founded and later sued OpenAI and ChatGPTWell documented
The connection
Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit counterweight to Google. He left its board in 2018; OpenAI says he had sought control or a merger with Tesla. In 2024 he sued, saying it betrayed its nonprofit mission by turning to profit with Microsoft. He founded rival xAI (2023) and led a rejected $97.4 billion bid for OpenAI (2025).
When and how
San Francisco, 2015–2018; lawsuit filed in state court in 2024, then refiled in federal court in Oakland, California.
How we know
Founding announcements, emails released by both sides in court, and the lawsuit filings.
Debates
Whether OpenAI broke a binding founding promise or Musk mainly wanted control; the released emails support parts of both accounts.