Looking back at Elon Musk networth in 2018, the usual answer is about 20 billion dollars. That’s the roughly figure Forbes reported on its annual billionaires list that year, placing him around the middle of the top 100 worldwide. It was a big number, though a fraction of what he would be estimated at later.
What made up the 2018 estimate
Most of his wealth was paper wealth tied to two companies. His Tesla shares were the largest part, followed by his stake in SpaceX, which was privately held and valued from funding rounds. Smaller pieces came from other ventures and earlier proceeds from PayPal, the company he’d co-founded earlier in his career.
That’s an important point. A stock-based fortune moves every trading day, so a number published in March can look different by December.
Why 2018 was a messy year
Tesla was in the middle of what Musk himself called production hell, struggling to ramp up output of the Model 3. The stock swung sharply, and that year also brought a high-profile dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission over statements about taking the company private. It ended in a settlement that included fines and a change in his role as chairman.
The SEC publishes details of its enforcement actions at sec.gov, if you’d like the primary documents rather than summaries.
Despite the turbulence, SpaceX had a strong year of launches, and Tesla’s shares recovered in later periods. These swings explain why articles from different months of 2018 quote different figures.
How Forbes and others estimate
For public companies, the method is straightforward in principle: take the number of shares, multiply by the price on a chosen date, and subtract loans secured against shares if known. For private companies like SpaceX, trackers rely on the latest valuation from investment rounds, then apply the owner’s stake.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index uses its own approach and updates daily, so it can differ from Forbes, whose list is a snapshot from a specific date. Both are estimates. Neither has access to private bank statements.
2018 compared with later years
The jump after 2018 is well documented. Tesla’s share price rose enormously during the following years, and by 2021 he was ranked among the richest people on Earth, in some rankings at the very top. The 2018 figure looks modest next to that, which is a reminder of how sensitive stock-based fortunes are to market sentiment.
If you’re comparing years, check whether the numbers are adjusted for stock splits and note the date of each snapshot. Tesla had stock splits in 2020 and 2022, which can confuse share-price comparisons.
Things to check when you see a historical net worth
- Which source produced it, and on what date?
- Did they count options that hadn’t been exercised?
- Were pledged shares or loans taken into account?
- Is the number in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation?
For background on his career and companies, see the Wikipedia article on Elon Musk, but note that I’m describing only the broad estimate here and not individual transactions.
The takeaway
In 2018, the commonly cited figure sat near 20 billion dollars, mostly from Tesla and SpaceX equity. It’s a snapshot of a year when the stock was volatile and a lot was uncertain, and it was later dwarfed by the growth that followed. If you need a precise value for a specific day, use the archived Forbes or Bloomberg data for that date and say which one you used.
It’s also worth noting how much has been written about the pay package Tesla’s board approved for him, which tied rewards to ambitious milestones. Those awards were options, not cash, and their value depended on meeting targets and on stock prices. In 2018, trackers had to decide whether to count them at all. Different choices produced different totals, and that’s another reason no two lists matched exactly. If precision matters, quote the list and the date.
This article is for general information only and is not financial advice.
Related reading
- What Is Ja Morant’s Net Worth? Contract, Endorsements and Estimates
- What’s Their Networth? How to Find Out Using Public Sources
Photo: Tesla Owners Club Belgium, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
