The billionaire Elon Musk, who is already considered the richest man in the world, is about to reach an unprecedented milestone: a net worth of US$ 800 billion (the equivalent of around R$ 4.3 trillion). The main reason for Musk’s fortune increase is the appreciation of his technology companies, especially with regard to artificial intelligence.
Even with criticisms over sexually charged images created by the Grok robot, xAI announced at the start of this month that US$ 20 billion in its latest fundraising round. The American magazine Forbes explained that the funds raised the company’s valuation to US$ 250 billion. Since Musk owns 49% of the company, the funding round increased his stake to US$ 122 billion, an addition of about US$ 62 billion to Elon Musk’s personal fortune.
Now, Musk’s total net worth is calculated at US$ 780 billion, which reinforces his sole first position on the world’s richest list. He is expected to be the first billionaire to surpass US$ 800 billion. Projections also indicate that he will be the first person in history to become a trillionaire.
And it doesn’t stop there. Elon Musk is moving ahead with a lawsuit against OpenAI and against Microsoft for “undue gains.” He argues that he initially supported the companies and has money to receive from them.
In addition to Musk, the rising value of his digital ventures has also left other billionaires even richer. Among them are Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, and Oracle director Larry Ellison.
Despite the financial gains, xAI is undergoing a period of heavy investment with the aim of not falling behind in the race for AI advances taking place around the globe. In the first nine months of 2024, the company allocated around US$ 7.8 billion to projects in that direction.
