Elon Musk's already mind-boggling wealth just got a massive boost, courtesy of Delaware's highest court. The Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO now has a net worth of $749 billion, following a Supreme Court decision that reinstated stock options worth $139 billion that had been struck down by a lower court.
Here's what happened: The Delaware Supreme Court reversed a 2024 ruling that had voided Musk's 2018 compensation package, which was originally valued at $56 billion. A lower court judge had called the pay deal "unfathomable" and tossed it out. The Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that rescinding the package was improper and unfair to Musk.
The timing is notable. This ruling comes shortly after Musk became the first person ever to cross the $600 billion net worth threshold, fueled partly by speculation around a potential SpaceX public offering. And just last November, Tesla shareholders voted to approve a staggering $1 trillion pay plan for Musk, essentially endorsing his ambitious vision to pivot the electric vehicle maker toward artificial intelligence and robotics.
To put Musk's wealth in perspective: according to Forbes' billionaires index, he's now worth nearly $500 billion more than Larry Page, the Google co-founder who ranks as the world's second-richest person. That gap alone would make someone wealthier than almost everyone else on the planet.
The court's decision isn't just about the money. It reinforces Musk's position at Tesla during a pivotal moment when he's steering the company into new territory beyond electric vehicles. With shareholders backing his trillion-dollar compensation plan and the Supreme Court restoring his previous pay package, Musk has a clear runway to pursue his AI and robotics ambitions. Whether that vision pays off remains to be seen, but the financial and legal backing is now firmly in place.
