00:00Recently, Tesla earned the distinction of being the most valuable United States automaker in history,
00:06reaching a record-high market value of $86.5 billion.
00:11A company that started in 2003, beating out long-term companies like Ford and GM by a good $10-20 billion is quite a surprise,
00:20and people are certainly reacting.
00:22When I saw the news, while riding in my Tesla on autopilot no less, I was astounded.
00:27Chances are, unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of Elon Musk.
00:32When it comes to billionaires who have been in the spotlight, he's one of the most eclectic billionaires around,
00:37and with a net worth of around $29 billion, he's one of the wealthiest people out there.
00:43But could he be wealthier?
00:45Could he dethrone Jeff Bezos to become the richest man on the planet?
00:50Could he even go as far as to become the world's first trillionaire?
00:55Today, we're going to take a look at how wealthy Elon could become.
00:59But first, we have to take a look at where he came from.
01:02Journey back with me to South Africa, then Canada, then Pennsylvania, then, well, this guy's been all over the place.
01:09Born in South Africa, Elon was pretty much set to be a tech nerd from the get-go.
01:13He taught himself to code and sold his first bit of video game code at the age of 12.
01:18In middle school and high school, he was frequently bullied by people who probably feel pretty stupid about that now.
01:25As a fellow nerd who got a few shoves back in the heyday, I've got to say, success is the sweetest revenge.
01:31He went on to go to college in Canada, then in the United States,
01:35where he paid for his rent by turning his college apartment into a speakeasy and charging five bucks a head.
01:41Entrepreneurs come in all forms, don't they?
01:44After earning his bachelor's degree in physics and economics, he went on to form a startup with his brother called Zip2,
01:51which was basically an internet yellow pages with a map included.
01:55Oh, the businesses that were around before smartphones.
01:59Four years later, in 1999, he sold Zip2 for $307 million, earning Elon 22 million bucks all on his own.
02:08For a 28-year-old, 22 million isn't too shabby.
02:12While a lot of people that age would take the money and spend it on a yacht and a house in the Hollywood Hills,
02:17Elon had quite a bit more business in mind.
02:20He invested the money in X.com, an online banking service that was eventually bought out by PayPal.
02:27Elon's earnings from that little journey, $180 million.
02:31So, now we know how Elon racked up all that money to form the companies he owns today.
02:37But how much are those companies earning him, and how much will they go on to earn?
02:41We know Tesla.
02:42We've seen those cars clogging up the freeway.
02:44We've seen Elon's wacky antics at the helm of the company, like busting some pretty memeable moves on stage in Shanghai.
02:51With that market value of $86.5 billion, it's clear that Tesla is doing A-OK.
02:58Since Elon owns approximately 38.6 million shares in Tesla, it's safe to say he's doing a little more than A-OK.
03:06But in an announcement in 2018, Tesla announced it won't be paying Elon a dime for the next 10 years, under a 12-step performance plan, unless Tesla nearly doubles its value.
03:18If Tesla manages to hit all 12 performance milestones, reaching a market value of $650 billion, Elon would own $184 billion worth of Tesla stock alone, making him more wealthy than Jeff Bezos with just his Tesla stock.
03:36But $650 billion is a lot of money.
03:40Enough money to give every single person in the United States $1,000, with a couple of billion left to spare.
03:47Is it feasible that Tesla could make that much?
03:49Considering the fact that in 2018, Tesla's sales increased by 280%, and their services and other revenue increased by 68% in Q3 of 2019, it looks like their consistently increasing sales are leaning in that direction.
04:06But $184 billion in Tesla stock doesn't exactly make a trillionaire.
04:12Lucky for Elon, he's got a few other companies dabbling their little robot fingers in some other ventures.
04:18Space X is one of Elon's well-known business ventures.
04:21They do a lot of work, building insane rocket engines, developing private spaceflight vehicles, scaring the entire city of Los Angeles with their launches.
04:30You know, usual business stuff.
04:32As you'd imagine, aerospace companies rack up some out-of-this-world money.
04:37With an estimated value of $33.3 billion, Space X is no different.
04:43However, it's their plan for the future that really manages to set them apart.
04:47With the intention to colonize Mars, create private, affordable spaceflights, and resume American astronaut spaceflight.
04:55They have a lot on their plate.
04:58But it's their Starlink program that's expected to really reel in the dough.
05:02Starlink is a satellite initiative intending to provide high-speed and low-cost internet across the globe.
05:08Really, the only two things you could want from the internet.
05:11But how much is it going to be worth?
05:14A recent analysis by Morgan Stanley expects Starlink to blast SpaceX's value to $120 billion within the next couple of years, earning an additional $30 to $50 billion annually.
05:26Once all 12,000 satellites are up and providing internet to countries, companies, and the United States government, it's hard to say how high this company's market value will skyrocket.
05:37And that's just from the Starlink program alone.
05:40Since Elon owns 54% of SpaceX's stock, he's looking at a pretty hefty amount of money going into his net worth.
05:48That all being said, as of now, SpaceX is private.
05:52If they ever switch to public, as Elon has stated they're planning to, their market value could drastically increase.
05:59So, as of now, we have a rough estimate of $184 billion and $120 billion, with an additional $30 to $50 billion a year.
06:08But if you're Elon, you can't just have an aerospace company and a car company, can you?
06:13I mean, that'd just be boring.
06:15See where I'm going with this?
06:17Yes, the Boring Company.
06:19The company that digs tunnels and sells flamethrowers labeled as not a flamethrower for profit.
06:2490% of the equity is owned by Elon, with another 6% held by SpaceX.
06:30The Boring Company plans on creating an underground high-speed transportation tunnel that runs from Los Angeles to Seattle along freeways,
06:38and is accessible only by Teslas and other electronic vehicles.
06:42While that may not sound profitable, the entire system is estimated to earn $5 for every $1 spent.
06:49And with Elon owning 90% equity, that's a lot of profit once the system is approved and in use.
06:55As if tunnel transportation, aerospace, car, and solar isn't enough, Elon is also the majority owner of Neuralink, a brain-computer interface program.
07:05No word has really come out about the company's profit, and they've remained relatively hush-hush about what they're working on.
07:11But it seems like some sci-fi movie material will be coming from that business soon.
07:16Neuralink shares its building with OpenAI, another company founded by Elon.
07:21The company is aimed at creating friendly, helpful AI.
07:25In other words, creating AI that won't cause a robot uprising.
07:29Microsoft invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019.
07:34So it's safe to say someone else thinks OpenAI is going to profit.
07:38Well, there you have it.
07:39The business is owned and operated by Elon.
07:42Can you imagine what this poor guy's email inbox looks like every day?
07:45Though it's tough to say how much these companies are going to earn Elon, it seems like that trillion-dollar mark isn't too far off.
07:54Who knows what the research companies will develop, or how much that underground tunnel will really earn him.
07:59Time will tell, but things certainly are looking good for his bank account.
08:04What do you think?
08:04Will Elon become the world's first trillionaire, or will that title remain unclaimed?
08:10Let me know what you think down in the comments below.
08:12If you'd like to check out his competition, Jeff Bezos, feel free to check out my video on his money here.
08:18If you enjoyed, make sure to leave a like and subscribe.
