Musk’s Fortune Hits Record $749 Billion Amid Landmark Legal Victory and Papal Criticism

The staggering scale of Musk’s wealth has not been without controversy. Pope Leo XIV recently issued a stern warning regarding the global trend of wealth concentration, specifically citing Musk’s $1 trillion pay plan as an “egregious example of executive excess”.

RMN News Business Desk
New Delhi | December 21, 2025

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has become the first person in history to surpass a net worth of $700 billion, following a pivotal legal victory late Friday. According to Forbes’ Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth surged to approximately $749 billion after the Delaware Supreme Court reinstated a massive 2018 pay package that had previously been voided by a lower court. This historic financial milestone means Musk’s fortune now exceeds that of the world’s second-richest person, Larry Page, by nearly $500 billion.

A Legal and Financial Rebound

The surge in Musk’s net worth was driven by the court’s decision to restore stock options worth an estimated $139 billion. These options were part of a compensation deal once valued at $56 billion, which a lower court had struck down two years ago, labeling it “unfathomable”.

However, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled that rescinding the deal was “improper and inequitable” to Musk. This legal win follows a week of rapid gains for the billionaire, who had only just crossed the $600 billion mark days earlier amid reports that his aerospace company, SpaceX, might soon go public.

Shareholder Support and Future Vision

While the courts settled the 2018 dispute, Tesla shareholders have already looked toward the future by overwhelmingly approving a new $1 trillion pay plan in November—the largest corporate compensation package in history. This move underscores investor confidence in Musk’s strategy to transform the electric-vehicle manufacturer into a powerhouse for artificial intelligence and robotics.

The “Pontiff” Weighs In on Executive Excess

The staggering scale of Musk’s wealth has not been without controversy. Pope Leo XIV recently issued a stern warning regarding the global trend of wealth concentration, specifically citing Musk’s $1 trillion pay plan as an “egregious example of executive excess”. In his first formal interview, the 70-year-old Pontiff expressed concern that the world faces “big trouble” if wealth disparity continues to widen.

The Pope highlighted a dramatic shift in corporate compensation over the last six decades. He noted that while CEOs 60 years ago typically earned four to six times the salary of their workers, modern executives now earn 600 times more than the average employee.

To understand the scale of this wealth gap, imagine a professional ladder: where a worker once stood on the first rung and the CEO stood on the sixth, today’s CEO is standing at the top of a skyscraper while the worker remains on that same first rung.