KEY POINTS

  • Elon Musk's net worth stands at $282 billion
  • He is the world’s richest man today
  • In April 2012, Musk signed the Giving Pledge

Many people admire extremely wealthy people such as Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and aspire to achieve what they have achieved in their lifetime, but is it possible?

Musk, whose net worth stands at $282 billion, is the world’s richest man, as per the Forbes richest list.

He is the first man on the planet to reach $300 billion to his name, and while his net worth is less than $300 billion to date, some experts believe his fortune will skyrocket in the future and become the first trillionaire, as per a Bloomberg report.

With Musk’s net worth, he can purchase almost anything he wants in the world, including all the 32 National Football League teams, currently worth over $112 billion, as per CNN.

Based on the gross domestic product (GDP), he could buy most of the world’s countries.

His net worth is greater than the combined market value of Citigroup ($151.2 billion) and Volkswagen Group ($147.2 billion) and the yearly sales of Microsoft ($153.3 billion), Yahoo reported.

While many want to become as wealthy as Musk, Statista believes no average American can acquire the wealth he has accumulated in their lifetime.

For an average American earning $69,392 annually to be as rich as Musk, he or she has to work for three million years.

Despite his status, Musk is on a quest to live a simpler life.

In April 2012, he signed the Giving Pledge and committed to giving the majority of his wealth to charity.

He also began selling his properties in 2020 after announcing that he would be selling almost all of his physical possessions.

Between June 2020 to November 2021, Musk sold seven houses for about $128 million.

In 2018, Musk revealed via Twitter that he would sell around $100 million worth of Tesla stock every few years for charitable purposes and make “major disbursements in about 20 years when Tesla is in a steady state.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 13, 2019.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 13, 2019. Reuters / Mike Blake