Source: Quantum

Elon Musk has set many records this year.

His companies have taken off, with Tesla, SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink all reaching new valuation highs. The success of these enterprises has pushed Musk's net worth to exceed US$450 billion (approximately 3.28 trillion yuan) for the first time, more than US$200 billion (approximately 1.46 trillion yuan) higher than the world's second richest man, Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Yuan RMB).

Musk used his money and influence to help Donald Trump win a second term, and he also became a powerful figure in American politics. As one of the president-elect's closest advisers, he is now preparing to overhaul the United States.

After Musk’s $44 billion acquisition and reinvention of the Twitter (now X) platform triggered an exodus of advertisers, X appears to be in even worse shape.

We take a look at Musk’s 2024 via chart (all data as of Friday, December 20):

Year to date , Tesla's stock price has soared 85%, pushing the electric car manufacturer's market value to exceed US$1.4 trillion (approximately 10.22 trillion yuan) for the first time. Although Tesla's stock price has since fallen back, it remains near all-time highs.

The automaker is benefiting from a rush for artificial intelligence - which it is using to develop self-driving cars and humanoid robots - coupled with a strong U.S. economy and lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

Investors are also betting that Musk’s business will benefit from his close relationship with Trump, which could lead to easier regulations, subsidies, tariff exemptions and more.

Based on the price SpaceX and its backers paid for employee shares in the latest acquisition offer, the company’s valuation increased from $180 billion at the end of last year ( (approximately 1.31 trillion yuan) has almost doubled to US$350 billion (approximately 2.55 trillion yuan) this month.

Musk’s rocket, spacecraft and satellite communications companies have achieved a number of technological breakthroughs this year. For example, the company used a pair of giant mechanical "chopsticks" to catch returning Starship first-stage boosters out of the sky in October.

In the spring, as Tesla’s stock price plummeted, Musk’s net worth also fell, reaching a low of less than $170 billion (approximately $170 billion). 1.24 trillion yuan).

But on December 17, as Tesla’s stock price hit a new high and SpaceX’s valuation reached US$350 billion (approximately 2.55 trillion yuan), the market value rebounded by more than US$300 billion (approximately 2.55 trillion yuan).(approximately 2.19 trillion yuan), reaching an unprecedented US$486 billion (approximately 3.55 trillion yuan).

Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI was not established until July 2023.

However, after completing its Series B financing in May, the company was valued at US$24 billion (approximately 175.2 billion yuan). That valuation reportedly rose to $50 billion in November, meaning the Grok chatbot maker is worth roughly as much as Monster Beverage.

It remains tricky to judge the health of X, the social media company formerly known as Twitter that Musk took private in 2022. One way is to use Fidelity's monthly estimate of the value of its stake in the business.

Data from the mutual fund giant shows that X’s valuation has fallen significantly since Musk’s acquisition. The tech billionaire laid off much of the company's staff and relaxed content moderation in favor of greater space for speech, triggering an exodus of advertisers that pummeled the company's revenue.

Anyway, Musk recently posted on X that the platform has about 1 billion active users, although about 40% of them only log in during major world events.

Musk is one of the biggest spenders in the U.S. presidential election. He has invested more than $270 million (approximately 1.971 billion yuan) Supporting Trump’s presidential bid, running ads against Democrats and promoting conservative views.

He played a starring role in Trump's victory and became one of the president-elect's closest advisers and co-head of the newly created Department of Efficiency, a sign that his investment in the election has gained. return.

Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink was valued at US$8 billion (approximately 58.386 billion yuan) this summer, up from 20 billion three years ago billion US dollars (equivalent to 14.596 billion yuan today).

This brain-computer interface developer hopes to allow quadriplegic people to control computers with their thoughts. This spring, Musk released video of the first patient to receive one of his brain implants.