Musk becomes first person to hit $500 billion net worth, Forbes list shows

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday became the first person in history to achieve a net worth of nearly $500 billion, propelled by a rebound in the EV company's shares and surging valuations of the tech entrepreneur's other startups.

Musk's net worth stood at $499.5 billion as of 3:55 p.m. E.T., according to Forbes' billionaires index.

Tesla stock has been driving the increase in Musk's net worth. The shares have risen more than 14% so far this year and climbed nearly 4% on Wednesday, adding more than $7 billion to his net worth.

The Tesla board last month proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan for Musk, underscoring the hold he has over the carmaker as it attempts to transform into an AI and robotics powerhouse.

Musk's AI startup xAI and rocket company SpaceX have also scaled their valuations this year.

Oracle founder Larry Ellison follows Musk as the second richest person on Forbes' list, with a net worth of about $351.5 billion as of Wednesday.