Elon Musk’s empire: How companies like Tesla and SpaceX raked in billions for the entrepreneur

Elon Musk’s entrepreneurial endeavors have made him one of the world’s richest people. 

Tesla and SpaceX, both multibillion-dollar companies, are the biggest contributors to Musk’s fortune. He stands at the forefront of these companies as their CEO.

The companies Musk has had a hand in have skyrocketed him into global recognition and overflowing wealth.

One of Musk’s more recent business ventures was in 2022 when he took over the social media platform now known as X. 

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Take a look at the companies that have made Musk the wealthy man he is today.

1. Tesla

In 2004, Musk became a major investor in Tesla Motors, a company started by inventor and engineer Martin Eberhard and engineer Marc Tarpenning.

In 2008, Musk was named chief executive of the electric automaker. In his role as CEO, Musk is the head of all engineering, product design and global manufacturing of Tesla’s cars, battery products and solar energy products. Tesla’s mission has been to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

Starting with Tesla’s first electric product, the Roadster sports car, the company has advanced to producing sedans, SUVs and trucks.

In February, Musk posted to his X account saying, “Tonight, we radically increased the design goals for the new Tesla Roadster.”

He added, “There will never be another car like this, if you could even call it a car.”

2. SolarCity

SolarCity was founded in 2006 by Musk’s cousins Peter and Lyndon Rive. Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016 to become the first vertically integrated sustainable energy company in the world.

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SolarCity is known to be the top provider of solar power systems. The Solar Roof was developed in 2017 and was considered an affordable energy-generation product. 

The company will create an integrated solar and battery combination that is crucial to providing grid-independent renewable backup power. This will provide an advantage for consumers against changes to net metering in the future. 

In 2021, Musk explained that the acquisition of SolarCity was part of his “master plan” dating back to 2006. That year, in July, Musk argued during testimony surrounding a class-action shareholder lawsuit that the deal was handled by an independent director and that he received no financial gain from the acquisition.

“Since it was a stock-for-stock transaction and I owned almost exactly the same percentage of both there was no financial gain,” Musk said.

3. SpaceX

As head designer for SpaceX, Musk oversees the manufacturing of spacecraft and rockets to venture into Earth’s orbit and ultimately other planets. Since 2008, SpaceX has been making great strides in the rocket business. In 2008, the Falcon 1 reached orbit as the first privately created liquid fuel rocket.

In 2018, the Falcon Heavy completed its first flight, making it the most powerful operational rocket in the world. Continuing in spacecraft advancement, 2019 saw a demonstration mission with SpaceX’s crew-capable version of the Dragon spacecraft.

Further advancements focus on developing Starship, a reusable transportation system to reach the moon, Mars and beyond.

To date, there have been two Starship test flights, in April 2023 and November 2023. The first ended about four minutes after launch, from a controlled detonation due to the problems it was experiencing. 

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The second test flight lasted about double the time but exploded before making it to orbit. 

SpaceX is also behind the creation of Starlink, a high-speed broadband internet service delivered to locations where internet service is not available or has been expensive and unreliable.

4. The Boring Company

The Boring Company addresses the transportation system to alleviate urban congestion and promote rapid long-distance travel. 

As of 2022, the company is valued at nearly $6 billion.

The company was developed to improve transportation with affordable tunneling technology along with an all-electric public transportation system. 

In January, The Boring Company bought a new tract of land in Las Vegas as the company looks to expand its Vegas Loop underground transportation system. This deal cost $7.2 million, according to Clark County Records and was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In 2018, The Boring Company completed 1.15-mile R&D tunnel south of Los Angeles and now, testing of a full-scale Hyperloop transportation system is expected later in 2024. 

5. X

Musk, a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” has been critical of the platform and its former CEO Parag Agrawal’s approach to free speech.

The billionaire offered to buy X, known at the time as Twitter, in a deal worth more than $43 billion to take the social media company private.

However, Musk later announced he would be terminating the deal, claiming the platform was “in material breach of multiple provisions” of the agreement and “appears to have made false and misleading representations” when it accepted Musk’s acquisition offer. Musk disputed the platform’s internal estimates that spam and fake accounts make up less than 5% of its users. 

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In response to Musk and his team’s accusations, the social media company called the “purported termination” of the deal “invalid and wrongful” and a “repudiation of their obligations under the agreement.” 

It then sued Musk, accusing him of refusing to “honor his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.”

After that, Musk resubmitted his initial offer, only if the social media platform agreed to forgo a trial. 

The deal was finalized Oct. 28, 2022. One of Musk’s first decisions after taking over the company was firing Agrawal, Policy Director Vijaya Gadde and Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal. 

Musk also announced layoffs that would affect half the company, a move he described as a necessary one to avoid bankruptcy. 

In July 2023, the social media company went through a redesign, eliminating the bird logo and changing its name to X. 

FOX Business’ Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.