How Much Money Elon Musk Makes Per Minute Will Shock You

Between the near-constant announcements about the Department of Government Efficiency's antics -– like closing down Social Security offices around the country –- and the fact that Tesla drivers are selling off their vehicles en masse, it often feels like Elon Musk is absolutely everywhere these days. While the South-African-born billionaire has been an early staple of the second Trump administration in 2025, his name -– and more importantly, his wealth –- have been topics of discussion for years.

As an investor, founder, and CEO for companies like Paypal, Tesla, and SpaceX, Musk has been accumulating name-recognition, and wealth, for decades. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he was born into a wealthy family –- whose net worth increased through real estate and the purchase of a profitable emerald mine in the 1980s. As is common with generational wealth, Musk was then able to leverage his family money into his own future business ventures. However, even with Musk's generational wealth you might find yourself wondering just how much Musk continues to earn from his ongoing positions with companies like X and Tesla. While it might be difficult to imagine a man like Musk punching a clock everyday, he does hold multiple positions across different companies – affording him a salary or two (in the form of stock options) on top of everything else. According to August 2024 financial calculations from Finance Monthly, Musk earns an astonishing $631 per second or $2.27 million per hour.

It's worth noting that Elon Musk's daily earnings get even more astronomical if you consider these totals in the context of an eight-hour work day. For instance, if you take his 24-hour earnings and place them only into a 9-to-5 setting, Musk actually earns around $6.8 million per hour. However, he doesn't exactly receive a paycheck with these totals every other week. This is where net worth, and company valuations, can complicate the calculations of Musk's earnings.

As of April 15, 2025 Musk's net worth is $370 billion, according to Forbes. However, much of how this net worth is calculated has to do with his ownership stakes across multiple companies. For instance, Musk owns roughly 12% of Tesla, however he previously pledged more than half of those shares as collateral for personal loans which can affect the valuation of those stocks. Similarly, Musk is currently in the process of filing an appeal on a judge's decision to void an agreement that would essentially give him 9% more of Tesla — the outcome of which would definitely affect his net worth total.

Also in the mix is the fact that Musk owns 42% of SpaceX which is estimated to be worth roughly $350 billion, as of December 2024, and Musk's previous purchase of Twitter, now known as X. While Musk purchased the company for $44 billion, its value has plummeted 70% since his purchase. However, in late March 2025 Musk's xAI (worth $50 billion) purchased X for $33 billion, adjusting the values for both.

It's important to note that Elon Musk did not become the world's richest person until early 2021, when his net worth, at the time, surpassed $185 billion through a surge in Tesla's stock price. However, as of 2025, Tesla is no longer Musk's most valuable asset. Instead, the company's stocks continue to plummet while some shareholders contemplate what it would take to fire Musk from his role as CEO.

It's also worth noting just how much richer Musk has become since the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. In fact, Musk only became the first person to reach a net worth of $400 billion after the results of the November 2024 election -– reaching his peak, at $468 billion, in mid-December, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. While 2025 has proven to be a much rockier experience for Musk –- with his net worth significantly dropping from its peak –- as of mid-April 2025, he is still roughly $50 billion richer than he was the day before the election.

As for what Musk intends to do with his riches, according to a 2018 Tweet (pre-X takeover) the billionaire stated, "About half my money is intended to help problems on Earth, and half to help establish a self-sustaining city on Mars to ensure continuation of life (of all species) in case Earth gets hit by a meteor like the dinosaurs or WW3 happens and we destroy ourselves." A promise he has maintained in the years since, despite scientific evidence to the contrary.