Musk saw his net worth increase an unbelievable $142 billion over the course of 2020. According to CNW’s figures he started the year with a net worth of $28 billion. He ended 2020 with a net worth of $170 billion. His net worth as of this writing is $184 billion. This sharp increase can be attributed to two major factors, which also happen to be the two most publicly well known parts of Musk’s own business life: his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. Musk owns roughly 20 percent of Tesla’s outstanding shares plus 57 million vested Tesla shares. As the company’s stock market value has sailed upwards so has his net worth. He famously does not receive a salary of any kind for his work as CEO of the company, instead receiving compensation in the form of massive financial incentives that are also tied to Tesla’s stock market value. This unusual gamble is part of the reason Musk has been able to grow his wealth so effectively over the past year. Then, there’s the privately held SpaceX, the space exploration company founded by Musk. His stake in SpaceX is a reported 48 percent, and thanks to the company’s (to say the least) favorable financial performance in 2020, including a successful increased valuation in August, Musk saw his wealth grow even more.
