How much cash do you think the world’s richest man actually has in his bank account? With a staggering net worth of around $850 billion, you would expect the number to be massive. Half of it? Even one or two per cent? That would still translate into billions in ready money. But according to Elon Musk, that assumption would be completely off the mark. He says less than 0.1 per cent of his fortune is actually in cash. Yes, despite the eye watering headline figure, almost none of it is sitting in a bank account. That surprising detail becomes even more striking when you look at the scale of his overall wealth.
At nearly $850 billion, the Tesla and SpaceX boss is miles ahead of every other billionaire on the planet. There is even growing chatter that he could become the world’s first trillionaire very soon. But amid all the headlines and predictions, Musk says there is one thing people are getting wrong. He is not sitting on piles of cash. In fact, according to him, barely any of his wealth is liquid. Most of it exists on paper, tied directly to the companies he built.
In a recent post on X, Musk responded to speculation about his fortune. He said that less than 0.1 per cent of his net worth is actually in cash. The rest is largely made up of his ownership stakes in Tesla and SpaceX.
And that little distinction matters. Net worth is not the same as money in a savings account. It includes the value of shares, stock options and other assets. In Musk’s case, if Tesla’s stock price rises, his wealth shoots up. If the market turns, it can fall just as quickly. This is why his fortune often swings by billions in a single day.
He also highlighted that value creation at Tesla and SpaceX does not benefit him alone. Employees receive stock and options, and a large portion of Tesla is owned by retail investors as well as pension and index funds. So when the company grows, everyday investors gain too.
The trillionaire debate gained fresh momentum after the merger between SpaceX and xAI, which reportedly valued the combined entity at around $1.25 trillion. Musk owns an estimated 43 per cent stake in this business, making it his most valuable asset by far.
On top of that, he holds roughly 12 per cent of Tesla, worth hundreds of billions, along with significant stock options tied to long term performance targets. If Tesla’s shares continue to climb and SpaceX edges closer to a public listing, analysts believe his net worth could cross the $1 trillion mark.
For now though, Musk insists that the headline number does not reflect mountains of spendable cash. Even if less than 0.1 per cent of his fortune is liquid, that would still translate to hundreds of millions of dollars. By normal standards, that is enormous. But by Musk standards, it is just a fraction of an empire built largely on stock and ambition.
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