Into the stratosphere: Elon Musk’s net worth $760 billion

US President-elect Donald Trump with Elon Musk and Senator Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, before a SpaceX Starship rocket launch on November 19 in Brownsville, Texas. Photo / Brandon Bell, Getty Images via AFP

Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk’s net worth has surpassed US$400 billion ($691b), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, setting a new milestone for the world’s richest person.

The jump in wealth, the business news outlet reported, came after SpaceX and its investors agreed to purchase as much as US$1.25b of insider shares in a transaction that valued the rocket and satellite company at about US$350b.

The transaction increased Musk’s personal wealth by about US$50b to US$440b ($760b), Bloomberg said.

Musk’s wealth, largely based on the share price of Tesla and the valuation of SpaceX, already took a huge leap after United States President-elect Donald Trump won last month’s presidential election.

Tesla’s share price is up by about 65% since the vote in November.

Musk has been a prominent political donor and advocate for Trump, pumping a staggering US$270 million into the Republican’s campaign.

He has been an ever-present sidekick for Trump since his election victory, inviting him to watch a rocket launch in Texas by his SpaceX company.

Musk’s businesses all have varying degrees of interactions with US and foreign governments, and his proximity to Trump has raised concerns Musk will gain advantage for his own interests.

Musk is also expected to secure a reduction in regulations for Tesla as well as elimination of tax credits on electric vehicles that will punish the car-maker’s rivals.

Trump has selected Musk to co-head the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to make billions of dollars of cuts in federal spending and slash government red tape.

© Agence France-Presse