Elon Musk is $100 billion richer, worth more than Pepsi after Tesla stock surge

The epic comeback means Musk went from being the world’s biggest wealth loser for the year in April to the fourth biggest gainer, with an increase of $41 billion. Only Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison have increased their net worth more.

Musk also remains easily the richest person on the planet with a fortune of $270 billion – worth more than corporate titans like Salesforce ($262 billion), PepsiCo ($233 billion) or McDonald’s ($216 billion). Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, worth $215 billion, and Zuckerberg, worth $202 billion, still trail him at some distance.

However, it’s worth noting that Musk was much richer in the past. As of November 2021, he was worth $340 billion. Tesla shares have fallen nearly 40% since then, leaving Musk about $70 billion poorer than at his peak.

Turning the corner

Musk’s return to fortune this year reflects renewed optimism not just about Tesla, but the broader stock market and the U.S. economy.

The Federal Reserve recently made its first interest rate cut after raising them from near zero to north of 5 percent in less than 16 months, pushing stocks to record highs and easing fears of inflation and recession.

Tesla’s boss warned last year that rising prices, higher rates and a looming downturn were bad news for his company.

Consumers had less disposable income to spend on a car, buying one became more expensive and difficult due to higher borrowing costs and tighter lending, and people might have put off buying a new car until the economy improved, he said.

In April, Musk announced major layoffs, Tesla posted disappointing first-quarter delivery numbers, and investors worried about price cuts squeezing profit margins and Chinese rivals such as BYD taking market share from Tesla. Those myriad concerns weighed on the stock, but signs of easing economic pressures have underpinned a recovery in recent weeks.

It’s worth noting that Musk’s vast fortune also reflects his roughly 42 percent ownership of SpaceX, the rocket company valued at $210 billion in June, and his stakes in X, Neuralink, xAI and The Boring Company.