Elon Musk becomes first person ever to be worth $500 billion, as ChatGPT’s OpenAI reaches same valuation

Elon Musk has become the first person estimated to reach a net worth of $US500 billion ($A756 billion), according to US magazine Forbes, largely held in shares of electric carmaker Tesla and aerospace firm SpaceX.

It comes as OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, also reached a valuation of $US500 billion, following a major share deal, a source revealed.

Forbes calculated Musk’s wealth at roughly $US150 billion more than Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.

Musk’s wealth is harder to estimate than that of other billionaires because many of his companies are not publicly traded.

Musk surpassed the $US400 billion mark in December 2024, amid investor speculation that Tesla would benefit from his connections to then-newly elected US President Donald Trump. He frequently visited the White House early in Trump’s term, but relations later soured and Trump threatened to cut federal support to Musk’s firms.

Tesla sales also softened, partly because some potential buyers were put off by Musk’s right-leaning political views and his role in Trump’s federal lay-offs and cost-cutting measures.

Tesla’s stock has since rebounded, bolstered by expectations for growth in robotaxis and robotics, and possibly by a spike in sales ahead of the expiration of federal electric vehicle incentives in late September.

‘That’s capitalism. Good for him.’

Musk’s portfolio also includes social media platform X, AI developer xAI and neural implant company Neuralink. Tesla, however, remains central to his fortune.

The electric carmaker is offering a compensation plan potentially worth $US1 trillion, contingent on achieving eightfold market value growth, maintaining Musk as chief executive and fulfilling other performance conditions.

The news was divisive on Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“That’s capitalism. Good for him,” one person wrote.

Others said it was “sickening how the rich get richer while the gap between upper and middle class is at an all-time high”.

It comes as OpenAI surged to a valuation of $US500 billion, following a deal in which current and former employees sold roughly $US6.6 billion worth of shares, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

This represents a bump-up from its current valuation of $US300 billion, underscoring OpenAI’s rapid gains in both users and revenue.

As part of the deal, OpenAI employees sold shares to a consortium of investors including Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer Investment Group, Abu Dhabi’s MGX and T. Rowe Price, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

The company had authorised sales of $US10 billion-plus worth of stock on the secondary market, the source added.

Thrive Capital, SoftBank, Dragoneer, MGX and T. Rowe Price did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The share sale adds to SoftBank’s earlier investment in OpenAI’s $US40 billion primary funding round.

The company generated around $US4.3 billion in revenue in the first half of 2025, about 16 per cent more than it generated all of last year, The Information reported earlier this week.

The sale comes at a time when tech giants are competing aggressively for AI talent with lucrative compensation packages. Meta is notably investing billions in Scale AI and poached its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead its new super intelligence unit.

- With Deutsche Presse Agentur and Reuters.