Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long ranked among the world’s wealthiest individuals. This year, his fortune soared to a new record, making him the first person in history with a net worth surpassing $500 billion.
At Tesla’s latest shareholder meeting on Nov. 6, the company approved a near $1 trillion compensation package for Musk, with over 75 percent of voting shareholders in favor. Tesla’s general counsel Brandon Erhart announced that the plan had received “overwhelming support.”
According to the plan filed in September 2024, Musk could receive up to $900 billion over the next decade, marking the largest compensation program in corporate history.
Despite his astronomical wealth, Musk insists that he lives simply. As the BBC recalled, in 2021 he said he was residing in a $50,000 prefab house near SpaceX’s Texas launch site.
His former partner, Canadian musician Grimes, confirmed this in a 2022 Vanity Fair interview. She said Musk “doesn’t live like a billionaire” and that at times his lifestyle was “below the poverty line.” She recounted how their mattress once developed a hole — and Musk refused to replace it.
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Yet his frugality in daily life contrasts with his lavish spending elsewhere. The BBC noted that Musk has a passion for rare automobiles and private jets, and of course, made headlines with his $44 billion purchase of Twitter (now X) in 2022.
From Bel-Air mansions to a prefab box
According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk once owned seven luxury homes in Los Angeles’ exclusive Bel-Air neighborhood, purchased over seven years for about $100 million. The estates featured swimming pools, tennis courts, wine cellars, private libraries, and grand ballrooms.
One of these ranch-style homes had previously belonged to Gene Wilder, star of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. In 2020, Musk announced plans to sell nearly all of his possessions, declaring that he no longer wanted to own any homes. He wrote on social media that “possessions just weigh you down” and said he wanted to focus entirely on his Earth and Mars projects.
He also insisted that Wilder’s former home “must not be torn down or lose its soul.” Musk sold it to Wilder’s nephew, Jordan Walker-Pearlman, even helping finance the purchase. However, reports say the buyer defaulted on payments in June 2025, and Musk reclaimed ownership.
In 2021, Musk said his main residence was a $50,000 prefab house located near the SpaceX launch site, in an area later dubbed “Starbase City.” He described the small modular home as “pretty great.”
A year later, in a TED interview, Musk said he “literally has no house” and often stays in friends’ spare rooms when working in California’s Bay Area. Former Google CEO Larry Page once confirmed that Musk would email him saying, “I don’t know where to stay tonight—can I crash at your place?”
While there have been persistent rumors about new property purchases, current reports indicate that the Texas prefab remains his only official residence.
The space-age car collection
Though he avoids luxury real estate, Musk has a deep affection for rare cars. As Tesla’s founder, his garage spans more than a century of automotive history.
His collection reportedly includes:
- a Ford Model T, the car that revolutionized early industry;
- a 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster, his childhood dream car;
- a McLaren F1, which he famously crashed and later restored; and
- the original Tesla Roadster, the same vehicle he launched into orbit in 2018.
The most iconic piece is his 1976 Lotus Esprit, featured in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Known as “Wet Nellie,” the car transforms into a submarine in the movie. Musk bought it at auction in 2013 for nearly $1 million and said he planned to make it “actually capable of transforming underwater.”
Musk admits that private jets are one of his few real indulgences, but insists they’re for productivity, not luxury. In his 2022 TED interview, he explained that not flying privately “would drastically cut my work hours.”
His fleet includes multiple Gulfstream aircraft, each worth tens of millions of dollars, used for travel between SpaceX, Tesla, and international destinations.
My companies are my charity
Public filings show that Musk has donated billions in Tesla stock to various charities and research initiatives. However, he often questions traditional philanthropy models.
In his view, true charity is measured by impact, not appearances. He has said that if philanthropy means advancing humanity, then his companies themselves are acts of charity:
- Tesla promotes sustainable energy;
- SpaceX aims to secure humanity’s future beyond Earth;
- Neuralink seeks to mitigate the dangers of artificial intelligence.
To Musk, these ventures represent the highest form of giving — not through foundations or gala dinners, but through the long-term survival and advancement of human civilization.
By Gao Yun
