Elon Musk’s Expanding Empire: A Look at His Key Ventures and Holdings
Elon Musk, the world-renowned entrepreneur and innovator, has co-founded seven major companies across industries ranging from electric vehicles to aerospace and artificial intelligence. His ventures, marked by a blend of ambition and controversy, continue to reshape global markets and technological frontiers.
Among his most notable creations is Tesla, the electric car pioneer that has led the global transition toward sustainable energy. Musk currently owns about 12% of Tesla’s outstanding shares, not including his stock options. However, a significant portion of these shares — over half — have been pledged as collateral for personal loans that could total up to $3.5 billion. These financial maneuvers highlight Musk’s complex relationship with his own wealth, using his holdings to fuel other ventures and investments.
In early 2024, Musk faced a major legal setback when a Delaware judge voided his 2018 Tesla compensation package, a landmark deal that would have awarded him stock options equivalent to an additional 9% ownership stake. This decision has introduced uncertainty around Musk’s future compensation at Tesla. In response, Forbes has discounted the value of these contested stock options by 50%, pending the outcome of Musk’s appeal.
Meanwhile, SpaceX, another of Musk’s brainchildren, continues to thrive. Founded in 2002, SpaceX has transformed the aerospace sector with innovations such as reusable rockets and ambitions for Mars colonization. In December 2024, a private share sale valued SpaceX at $350 billion, a testament to its dominance in satellite launches, government contracts, and space exploration technology. Musk reportedly owns about 42% of SpaceX, securing his position as a critical player in the burgeoning private space industry.
In addition to Tesla and SpaceX, Musk made headlines in 2022 with his high-profile acquisition of Twitter, the influential social media platform. After purchasing the company for an enterprise value of $44 billion, Musk embarked on a controversial overhaul, including rebranding it to X. Despite his efforts to reinvent the platform, the value of X has plummeted. As of August 2024, Forbes estimates that the company’s valuation has declined by nearly 70%, reflecting challenges in monetization, user retention, and broader market skepticism about Musk’s leadership in the social media space.
Never one to stay out of emerging industries, Musk launched xAI in 2023, an artificial intelligence startup designed to compete with giants like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic. The company aims to build safe, powerful AI systems that align with human interests — a mission Musk has publicly championed for years. By November 2024, private investors had valued xAI at around $50 billion. Musk owns approximately 54% of the company, positioning xAI as another major asset in his expanding portfolio.
Through his ownership stakes in these companies, Musk exerts significant influence over the fields of electric vehicles, space exploration, social media, and artificial intelligence. His ventures not only drive technological innovation but also provoke intense debate about wealth concentration, corporate governance, and the future of humanity’s relationship with technology.
Elon Musk has co-founded seven companies, including electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, rocket and spacecraft company SpaceX, and artificial intelligence startup xAI.
He holds approximately 12% of Tesla’s shares, excluding stock options, and has pledged more than half of his holdings as collateral for personal loans totaling up to $3.5 billion. In early 2024, a Delaware judge invalidated Musk’s 2018 compensation package, which would have granted him options representing an additional 9% stake in Tesla. Forbes has applied a 50% discount to the value of these options while Musk appeals the ruling.
Founded in 2002, SpaceX was valued at $350 billion during a private share sale in December 2024, with Musk maintaining an estimated 42% ownership stake.
In 2022, Musk acquired Twitter—later rebranded as X—in a $44 billion deal. By August 2024, the platform’s value had fallen by nearly 70%, according to Forbes estimates.
Musk also founded xAI in 2023 and owns about 54% of the company, which was valued by private investors at approximately $50 billion in November 2024.
