NEW YORK, Jan 15, 2026, 01:25 EST
- Benzinga’s tally of Forbes franchise values puts the combined worth of the four major U.S. leagues at roughly $536.8 billion
- As of Jan. 14, Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index valued Musk at $640 billion, highlighting SpaceX as his top asset
- His fortune has jumped with court decisions, Tesla’s stock swings, and occasional private company revaluations
Elon Musk’s fortune has reached a point where he could snap up every team across Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League—and still walk away with $103 billion in cash, according to a Benzinga analysis that references Forbes team valuations.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index valued Musk’s net worth at $640 billion on Jan. 14, naming SpaceX as his top asset. According to Bloomberg, he owns roughly 12% of Tesla and holds around 304 million exercisable stock options from his 2018 pay deal. (Bloomberg)
The sheer size — and rapid growth — of Musk’s fortune has made it a headline market story. Reuters noted that Forbes’ billionaires index valued Musk at $749 billion in December, following a Delaware Supreme Court decision that reinstated Tesla stock options worth $139 billion, which had been nullified the previous year. (Reuters)
The ruling reinstated Musk’s 2018 Tesla pay package, and “for Elon, this is a win because he gets control faster,” according to Gene Munster, managing partner at Tesla investor Deepwater Asset Management. Musk took to X to say he was “vindicated.” (Reuters)
In November, Tesla shareholders gave the green light to a new compensation plan that could deliver Musk stock valued at up to $1 trillion over ten years, Reuters reported. But after mandatory payments, the net figure drops to $878 billion. The scheme links payouts to operational goals — including selling 1 million robotaxis and 1 million robots — alongside valuation targets, as Musk pushes forward with his vision of a “robot army.” (Reuters)
A tender offer acts like a private share sale, setting a price for companies not listed on an exchange. These valuations can swing widely or fall behind actual value since there’s no daily market close to recalibrate them.
Benzinga’s sports-team math remains hypothetical. League rules limit ownership setups, and no buyer can just grab hundreds of franchises like a basket of stocks.
The bigger question is liquidity. Musk’s wealth is tied up mostly in stakes and options, not liquid cash. Raising tens of billions on short notice depends heavily on what lenders deem acceptable as collateral, what boards will approve, and how much the markets can handle without distorting prices.
For investors, the key takeaway isn’t just owning a stake in a league but the concentration risk involved: Tesla’s stock swings, court rulings on Musk’s pay, and occasional repricings of private shares can shift his headline net worth by amounts rivaling entire Fortune 500 companies.
