Here’s the Salary You’d Need To Retire as Rich as Elon Musk
Written by
Jacob Wade
Edited by
Amber Barkley
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The richest man in the world: Elon Musk needs no introduction; he is one of the most famous individuals on earth.
From starting half a dozen successful companies to pioneering the electric car into the mainstream — Musk’s rise to wealth has been remarkable.
And while you might not be able to start multiple billion-dollar companies in this lifetime, it’s fun to think about how much you’d need to earn to retire as rich as Elon Musk. Here’s a rundown of the numbers to find out what kind of salary you’d need to retire with hundreds of billions of dollars in the bank.
What Is Elon Musk Net Worth?
Elon Musk is currently the richest person in the world, with a net worth of around $390 billion dollars, according to Forbes. His wealth is primarily from his large holdings in trillion-dollar car maker Tesla. As of 2023, Elon Musk owned around 13% of all outstanding Tesla shares, with around 410 million shares worth over $150 billion. But this only accounts for about half of Musk’s vast wealth.
Musk also owns a majority of social media platform X, a majority of SpaceX and large holdings in companies such as the Boring Company and xAI. The combined value of all of these investments makes Musk the richest person in the world — by far.
How Much Would You Need To Make per Year To Be as Rich as Elon Musk?
So, if you wanted to retire with $390 billion, how much money do you need to make to get there by the time you retire?
You’ll need to know how much you need to make per year, plus how much you can save from that salary. Here’s how much money you need to put away each year to retire with $390 billion in the bank.
How Much You Need To Save Each Year To Retire With $390,000,000,000
| Savings per Year | Years Until Retirement |
|---|---|
| $9.75 billion | 40 |
| $11.14 billion | 35 |
| $13 billion | 30 |
| $15.6 billion | 25 |
| $19.5 billion | 20 |
| $26 billion | 15 |
| $39 billion | 10 |
The numbers are mind-boggling.
If you work a normal 40 year career, you’d need to save at least $9.75 billion — with a “B” — EACH YEAR to end up with $390 billion by the time you retire.
If you’re 10 years into your career and still have 30 years left until you retire, you’ll have to start saving $13 billion per year to retire as rich as Elon Musk. Considering there are very few people even worth that amount in this world, this is pretty crazy.
If you’re starting late and only have 10 years left until you retire, you’ll need to save $39 billion per year to retire with $390 billion!
But these numbers are just your savings each year. Say you’re comfortable living on just 10% of your income. Here’s how the income numbers break down.
Salary Each Year To Retire With $390,000,000,000
| Salary per Year | Years Until Retirement |
|---|---|
| $10.73 billion | 40 |
| $12.26 billion | 35 |
| $14.3 billion | 30 |
| $17.16 billion | 25 |
| $21.45 billion | 20 |
| $28.6 billion | 15 |
| $42.9 billion | 10 |
If you work for 40 years and save 90% of your income, you’d need to make over $10 billion per year for 40 years to retire as rich as Elon Musk is right now. If you’re working a regular 40-hour workweek full-time, that’s about 2,080 hours worked per year.
You’d have to earn around $4,807,692 PER HOUR to make $10 billion per year — for 40 years! And that’s just to retire as rich as Elon Musk is right now!
What Jobs Pay $10 Billion per Year?
Honestly — none.
The only chance you have of earning $10 billion per year and growing your net worth to nearly $400 billion by retirement is to start an innovative company — or several — gain market share in a valuable market, bring in investors to grow your company and then expand your company to be worth $1 trillion or more.
Yes, this is very difficult to do. But it’s exactly what Elon Musk has done to build his net worth to where it is today.
And if you want to get there too, start thinking of some crazy, future-impacting ideas now that you can build over the next few decades.
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