— even when he had just $672 million
Having faith in your child’s potential is one thing — but believing they’ll become the richest person in the world? That’s the level of confidence Elon Musk’s father, Errol Musk, had in his son.
During a recent interview with YouTube personality DJ Vlad, the elder Musk recalled a moment from years ago when he was told his son had amassed a fortune of $672 million.
“I remember somebody telling me that he’s now estimated to have $672 million, around 2007 thereabouts, and they said, ‘Gee.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no, Elon will not stop until he’s number one,’” he recalled. “At that time, I imagine Bill Gates may have been number one. I’m not sure, but he won’t stop until he’s number one.”
Errol Musk’s belief in his son proved to be right. Today, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Elon Musk is the world’s richest person, with a staggering net worth of $402 billion. Meanwhile, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, once the wealthiest man on the planet, has dropped to seventh place with a net worth of $165 billion. And according to his father, Elon isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
“I can tell you now what’s going to happen,” Errol said. “[Elon] is very careful with how he does things. He’s going to go on and on. The IPO of Starlink is going to be worth a trillion dollars. SpaceX … is already worth a trillion dollars. So it’s really a matter of it being a private company.”
For those who share Errol Musk’s confidence in his son’s ventures, there are a few ways to invest alongside the billionaire entrepreneur.
Tesla (TSLA)
Elon Musk has built several successful businesses, but none are as synonymous with his name as Tesla.
It’s also the foundation of his immense wealth. According to Bloomberg, Tesla equity remains Elon’s largest asset.
While Tesla’s stock is volatile, the company remains a behemoth in the automotive industry. With a market cap of approximately $1.12 trillion, Tesla is more than 10 times the size of Ford and General Motors combined.
In 2024, Tesla produced 1,773,443 EVs and delivered 1,789,226 EVs. While both figures declined from 2023, Wall Street still sees potential upside in Tesla shares.
For instance, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives has an outperform rating on Tesla and a price target of $550 — roughly 53% above where the stock sits today.
Real estate
In a March 2022 discussion on X about inflation, Elon Musk offered a straightforward piece of advice:
“As a general principle, for those looking for advice from this thread, it is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high.”
His suggestion came at a critical moment, as inflation in the U.S. was surging, with the consumer price index (CPI) hitting a 40-year high of 9.1% year-over-year in June 2022.
Musk had a point — real estate has long been considered a reliable hedge against inflation. When inflation rises, property values often increase as well, reflecting the higher costs of materials, labor and land. At the same time, rental income tends to go up, providing landlords with a revenue stream that adjusts with inflation.
Although inflation has cooled since its 2022 peak, the threat of rising prices isn’t necessarily behind us. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers recently warned that if Donald Trump implements his economic plans, “there will be an inflation shock significantly greater than the one the country suffered in 2021.”
These days, you don’t need to buy a property outright to invest in real estate. For instance, platforms like First National Realty Partners (FNRP) allow accredited investors to own shares in institutional-quality, grocery-anchored properties without the hassle of finding and managing deals themselves.
Source: Moneywise
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