The founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk already considered the richest man on the planet, has surpassed $400 billion in personal wealth, a first. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to which Tesla’s stock price has increased more than 65% since Donald Trump’s election at the beginning of November. Additionally, SpaceX and its investors have agreed to purchase up to $1.25 billion in company stock, pushing the space company’s value to around $350 billion. This transaction increased Musk’s personal wealth by approximately $50 billion to $440 billion. Tesla stock soars on Wall Street, up almost 6%.
Now very loyal to Donald Trump, Elon Musk has become the largest political donor in recent American history with over 270 million dollars spent during the presidential campaign to support the Republican, according to data from the US Election Commission (Fec). The sum is the largest to come from a single non-candidate donor, according to data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that “tracks money in politics and its effects on politics.”
Musk’s closeness to Trump has raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest, including fears that the new administration would eliminate tax credits on electric vehicles competing with Tesla. The president-elect rewarded him by appointing him head of a commission on “government efficiency”, a body created to cut federal budgets.