Elon Musk is in a league of his own

He now has a net worth no one in history has ever achieved.

Transcript

00:00I'm Conway Gittins reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.

00:03Here's what we're watching on the street today.

00:04The New York Stock Exchange was buzzing this morning with President-elect Donald Trump

00:08on hand to ring the opening bell.

00:11However, there was a minor stock market retreat on the back of disappointing inflation numbers.

00:16Investors also took note of the biggest jump in weekly jobless claims in two months.

00:21242,000 new unemployment applications were filed for the week ended December 7th.

00:27In other news, a new milestone for the world's richest man.

00:31Elon Musk is now the first person ever to be worth more than $400 billion, according

00:36to calculations done by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

00:40The distinction is due in no small part to a surge in Tesla shares since the re-election

00:45of Donald Trump.

00:46Musk was a fervent backer of Trump during the campaign and continues to work with Trump's

00:51transition team.

00:52Musk's foray into politics has already reaped rewards as he was able to turn Trump from

00:58a vocal EV naysayer to a vocal EV supporter.

01:03Investors expect more to come.

01:05Musk is Tesla's biggest shareholder and has seen the stock surge 65 percent just since

01:10the November election, giving a boost to his wealth.

01:14But that's not the only source of his increasing fortune, at least on paper.

01:18SpaceX saw its valuation jump 67 percent between June and December, according to Bloomberg.

01:23His artificial intelligence startup X.A.I. has more than doubled in value, as reported

01:29by the Wall Street Journal.

01:31All said, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index puts him roughly $136 billion richer than

01:36he was before the election, which includes a disputed Tesla pay package that's now worth

01:42about $120 billion.

01:45The only person close to being as rich as he is, is Jeff Bezos, who's running a distant

01:50second at $250 billion.

01:54That'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.

01:57I'm Conway Gittens with the Street.