By 2022, most of Tesla’s shares are still owned by Elon Musk, among the company’s co-founders and the CEO. Elon Musk is the top individual investor, with a 23.5% stake in the company. At current rates, this is valued at around $145-50 billion, making Elon Musk one of the wealthiest men on earth. In addition, Musk also holds a significant stake in Twitter and SpaceX, which makes him worth anywhere between $180-90 billion.
How did Elon Musk become wealthy? The full business story
Elon Musk, seen as one of the most visionary tech entrepreneurs from the Silicon Valley scene, started his “career” as an entrepreneur at an early age. After selling his first startup, Zip2, in 1999, he made $22 million, which he used to create X.com, which would later become PayPal, and sell for over a billion to eBay (Musk made $180 million from the deal). He founded other companies like Tesla (he didn’t start it but became a leading investor in the early years) and SpaceX. Tesla started as an electric sports car niche player and eventually became a mass-manufacturing electric car maker. In October 2022, Elon Musk finalized the acquisition of Twitter.
Elon Musk started very early, in the software industry. His breakthrough came with PayPal.
The PayPal Mafia describes a group of former PayPal employees and founders who have since become involved with other tech companies. While most know SpaceX founder Elon Muskโs association with PayPal, the company also has links with YouTube, LinkedIn, and Yelp, among many others. In addition to founding these generation-defining companies, the members of the PayPal Mafia are some of the richest men in Silicon Valley.
As PayPal sold to eBay, that gave Musk the liquidity for his next ventures.
Indeed, in early 2000, Musk would go on to start two major companies.
Tesla
Tesla is vertically integrated. Therefore, the company runs and operates the Tesla’s plants where cars are manufactured and the Gigafactory which produces the battery packs and stationary storage systems for its electric vehicles, which are sold via direct channels like the Tesla online store and the Tesla physical stores.
In the early 2000s, Musk had also created SpaceX.
SpaceX
– SpaceX is a space transportation service and manufacturer of space rockets and other transport vehicles. Elon Musk founded it in 2002. – SpaceX makes money by charging governmental and commercial customers to send goods into space. These goods include ISS supplies, infrastructure, and people and satellites for various purposes. – SpaceX is also creating its Starlink network, designed to give every citizen access to fast and affordable internet.
In the meantime, throughout the years’ Musk also founded The Boring Company.
And by 2022 he acquired Twitter!
Twitter makes money in two ways: advertising and data licensing. In 2021, Twitter generated $4.5 billion from advertising and $570 million from data licensing. While Twitter generated $5 billion in total revenues, it lost 221 million.
Founded in 2003 by Eberhard and Tarpenning, eventually, the initial co-founders left the company, and by 2004, Musk first became the main investor, and after that, by 2008, he took over as CEO of the company. Tesla would go through many near-death experiences until 2018. And yet, by 2021, Tesla will become a trillion-dollar company.
In 2021, Tesla generated over $53.8 billion in revenues, compared to $31.5 billion in 2020. The largest segment in automotive sales (comprising regulatory credits revenues), followed by leasing (as part of the automotive), generated $1.6 billion in 2021. Outside the automotive sales, services (non-warranty after-sales vehicle services, sales of used vehicles, retail merchandise, and more) accounted for $3.8 billion. And energy generation and storage accounted for $2.8 billion. US and China are the primary markets, with almost $24 billion and nearly $14 billion respectively, in 2021. In 2021, Tesla generated $5.6 billion in Net Income, a net margin of over 10%.
A real-time insurance business model enables Tesla to build its insurance arm by dynamically adjusting the premiums based on real-time driving behavior. Reduced insurance premiums hooked with the leasing arm, will allow Tesla to scale its demand side of the business.
Tesla is characterized by a functional organizational structure with aspects of a hierarchical structure. Tesla does employ functional centers that cover all business activities, including finance, sales, marketing, technology, engineering, design, and the offices of the CEO and chairperson. Tesla’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, decide the company’s strategic direction, with international operations given little autonomy.
– SpaceX is a space transportation service and manufacturer of space rockets and other transport vehicles. Elon Musk founded it in 2002. – SpaceX makes money by charging governmental and commercial customers to send goods into space. These goods include ISS supplies, infrastructure, and people and satellites for various purposes. – SpaceX is also creating its Starlink network, designed to give every citizen access to fast and affordable internet.
Twitter makes money in two ways: advertising and data licensing. In 2021, Twitter generated $4.5 billion from advertising and $570 million from data licensing. While Twitter generated $5 billion in total revenues, it lost 221 million.
By 2022, most of Tesla’s shares are still owned by Elon Musk, among the company’s co-founders and the CEO. Elon Musk is the top individual investor, with a 23.5% stake in the company. At current rates, this is valued at around $145-50 billion, making Elon Musk one of the wealthiest men on earth. In addition, Musk also holds a significant stake in Twitter and SpaceX, which makes him worth anywhere between $180-90 billion.
Bernard Arnault’s wealth is around $203 billion. Indeed Arnault is the CEO and chairman of the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH Moรซt Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a massive luxury group that generated over โฌ79 billion in revenue ($83 billion) in 2022, spanning across wines, fashion, cosmetics, and retail. The Arnault family group owns 48.18% of the capital for LVMH with 63.9% voting power, making Bernard Arnault the principal owner and decision-maker. His stake is worth over $203 billion.
Warren Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, and philanthropist. Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Buffett is best known for his strict adherence to value investing and frugality despite his immense wealth. Warren Buffet owns an investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway. He owns 238,624 Class A shares which gives him control over the company. His stake in the company is valued at over $100 billion.
Jeff Bezos’ net worth is primarily based on his ownership stake in Amazon. Indeed, as of 2023, Bezos owned a 12.7% stake in Amazon, worth over $120 billion.
Tim Cook’s net worth is primarily comprised of his Apple stocks. As of 2023, he owned 3,279,898 worth about $480 million at the current rate. However, Tim Cook has sold part of his Apple stocks over the years for hundreds of millions of dollars, making him a billionaire.
Bill Gates was the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft until 2000, and he was on the board of Microsoft until 2020. However, over the years, Gates sold various stakes in Microsoft and diversified away from it. As of 2019, Gates had a 1.34% stake in Microsoft, which he might still own, valued at about $25 billion.
As of 2022, Satya Nadella had 763,518, valued at $190 million at Microsoft’s current market value. Nadella also got a $2.5 million base salary in 2022, plus $42.27 million in stock awards and over $10 million in non-stock incentives. Nadella sold hundreds of millions of dollars of Microsoft stocks in the last ten years, making him a centi-millionaire. In 2022, 96% of Nadella’s salary was performance-based, whereas only 4% comprised a base salary.
Larry Page co-founded Google (now Alphabet) and Sergey Brin. He controls the company tightly via a dual share ownership structure (made of Class A and B stocks). Alphabet is worth over a trillion dollars, valuing Larry Page’s stake in the company at around $70 billion.
Sergey Brin co-founded Google (now Alphabet) together with Larry Page. He controls the company tightly via a dual share ownership structure (made of Class A and B stocks). Alphabet is worth over a trillion dollars, valuing Sergey Brin’s stake at around $66 billion.
Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder and principal shareholder of Facebook (now Meta), in which he owns a controlling stake worth over $68 billion. Thus Mark Zucberkerbs’ net worth is around $68 billion in 2023.
Eduardo Luiz Saverin is a billionaire entrepreneur and angel investor. He co-founded Facebook with Mark Zuckerberg; he was later ousted. Yet later on, Facebook settled a lawsuit with Saverin giving him a good chunk of the company’s stock, now worth over ten billion dollars. Thus, Eduardo Saverin’s net worth is around $10.45 billion in 2023.
While Larry Ellison is a shareholder in various tech companies (such as Tesla), his primary wealth comes from his ownership stake in the company he founded, Oracle. He owns almost 43% of the company’s stock, valued at over $100 billion, making him among the wealthiest people on earth.
Howard Schultz’s net worth is over $2.2 billion. Indeed, he is the founder of Starbucks and a major institutional shareholder, with 1.88% ownership of the company, valued at over $2.2 billion at the current market value, making him a billionaire.
Daniel Ek is one of the founders and one of the principal shareholders of Spotify. Indeed, in 2023 with 16.5% of Spotify’s shares, he’s worth around $3.7 billion.
The Pinault family is the main shareholder behind the Kering Group luxury empire, with a stake of 41.7%, valued around โฌ30 billion, thus $32-33 billion. The Kering Group owns iconic brands like Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta.
Pierre Omidyar is a technology entrepreneur andPierre Omidyar is a technology entrepreneur and founder of eBay. As of 2020, before he stepped down from the company’s board of directors, he still owned 4.69% of the company’s stocks, valued at over one billion dollars. Yet, over the years, he sold a good chunk of his stocks, making him a billionaire. founder of eBay. As of 2020, before he stepped down from the company’s board of directors, he still owned 4.69% of the company’s stocks, valued at over one billion dollars. Yet, over the years, he sold a good chunk of his stocks, making him a billionaire.
Marc Benioff’s net worth is $5 billion. His net worth primarily comes from his stake in Salesforce. Indeed, he owns 3% of the company’s stock, valued at around $5 billion at current market value, making Marc Benioff a billionaire.
Reed Hastings is the co-founder, former CEO, and now executive chairman of Netflix. He’s also one of the major shareholders, with 1.7% ownership in the company, valued at $2.4 billion at the current rate.
Evan Thomas Spiegel is the co-founder and CEO of Snapchat. He’s also the main shareholder. Indeed, he both owns and controls Snapchat, and his stake in the company is currently valued at around $3 billion.
Brian Chesky is an industrial designer and businessman who is also Airbnb’s co-founder and current CEO. Since the company was founded in 2007, Chesky has been in charge of it, amassing a net worth of about $10 billion, thanks to his shares in the company.
Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, controls the company via a personal stake of shares for 7% ownership, plus the shares held via the family’s owned Swoosh, LLC, in addition to the shares in possession of his son’s Trust. Phil Knight directly controls a significant stake in Nike’s Class A and B shares, valued at over $40 billion.
Michale Jordan is a billionaire but doesn’t own the Jordan brand, which is part of Nike. Yet, he gets 5% royalties on the sales of Jordan. For instance, as of May 31, 2022, Nike had endorsement contract obligations of $7.6 billion, of which over $250 million were to be paid out to Michael Jordan as royalties on the sales of Jordan in 2022 (the company made over 5$ billion in sales in that year). We estimated that between 2018-2022 alone, Nike paid (or is paying) Michael Jordan almost one billion dollars in royalties for Jordan’s brand sales.
Kevin Plank is Under Armour’s primary owner and founder, of which he’s also chairman. His stake in the company is worth over a billion dollars at current market value, making him a billionaire.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
