Elon Musk's net worth is back at $250 billion. Or in other words, as of Monday's market close, Elon Musk re-acquired quarter-trillionaire status. A casual observer may have assumed that Elon's fortunes have always just gone up… like one of his rocket ships. That's not the case. Elon's net worth is still severely impacted by the stock price of Tesla. Elon directly owns 13% of Tesla's outstanding shares and has 304 million exercisable options.

• On Monday, Tesla's stock price closed at $290 per share. At that level, Tesla's market cap is around $910 billion.
• On January 6, 2023, Tesla's stock was $113 per share. At that level Tesla's market cap was $357 billion.

On January 6, Elon's net worth was $125 billion. On Monday, July 17, Elon's net worth reached $250 billion. That's a $125 billion gain in six months (192 days to be exact).

Why The Tesla Stock Roller Coaster?

Tesla's stock price dropped between mid-2022 and early 2023 for a number of reasons. First, the broader stock market was in a bear market. Second, Tesla faced some specific challenges, such as supply chain disruptions and production problems at its new Gigafactory in Berlin. Third, there was some investor concern about Tesla's valuation, which was seen as being very high. Tesla's stock price increased right back up to its previous highs over the last few months. This is due to a number of factors, including:

• The broader stock market has rebounded, and Tesla has benefited from this.
• Tesla has started to address its supply chain challenges and production problems.
• Investor sentiment towards Tesla has improved, and there is now more confidence in the company's future.
• Tesla has released some new and exciting products, such as the Model Y Plaid and the Cybertruck.

Speaking of the Cybertruck. On Saturday, Tesla announced through a Tweet that it had finally built its first Cybertruck… two years behind schedule, but I guess better late than never. Full-scale production is expected to start later this year. The Cybertruck aims to compete with electric SUV offerings like the Ford F-150 Lighting and the Rivian R1T which had been eating Tesla's lunch.

What About SpaceX?

Keep in mind another large chunk of Elon's net worth is related to SpaceX. He currently owns 42% of SpaceX. In January of this year the company was valued at $137 billion. One week ago, some existing SpaceX investors sold their shares on the private market at $81 a share, implying a valuation of $150 billion. Assuming Elon was not one of the sellers, this valuation increase added $3 billion to Elon's paper net worth.

Elon's Fortune – Where Does It Go From Here?

Elon is still a long ways away from his all-time peak net worth of $340 billion. He achieved that mark in November 2021. At that level he was briefly the richest human being in modern history, topping John D. Rockefeller's inflation-adjusted peak wealth. If you had asked me where I thought his fortune was going at that point, I would have told you "next stop, $500 billion." Instead, it dropped to that January 2023 low of $125 billion. And as you now know, it's gone back up to $250 billion. If you were placing a bet, where would you guess Elon's fortune goes next?