Featured Image Credit: Chesnot / Contributor / LUDOVIC MARIN / Contributor / Getty
While money can be a fickle mistress, we don't think the richest people in the world have too much to worry about in the near future.
Although the figures change on a daily basis, the three richest people in the world (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg) have a current combined net worth of $920 billion.
This is still shy of a trillion dollars, but with Musk tipped to become the world's first trillionaire by 2027, it looks like the only way is up.
Musk has been enjoying a lucrative 2024, with his appointment as the co-head of the government's new DOGE, Tesla stocks hitting a record high on December 11, and a boost to SpaceX's valuation helping push him over the $400 mark.
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But how has he done it?
After becoming the first person to have a net worth of over $300 billion in November 2021, he's comfortably sat as the world's richest person ever since.
Musk's current wealth can be traced back to the cool $175.8 million he made when PayPal was sold to eBay in 2002, with him eventually making it onto Forbes' billionaires list a decade later with just $2 billion.
Despite his mind-blowing net worth, Musk has referred to himself as 'cash poor' and explained he has no real interest in material possessions.
He's also defended Bernie Sanders' complaints that Musk and Bezos own more than the bottom 40% of the country, saying he's accumulating resources to further humanity's exploration of the stars.
Whatever anyone thinks of Musk, there's no denying he's made a lot of money along the way, so he must be doing something right.
If you fancy yourself as the next Mr. Musk, his 'golden rule' of investment has resurfaced in the aftermath of his record-breaking wealth boost.
As shared on X by Teslaconomics, Musk has some relatively simple advice if you want to invest.
In April 2022, Musk wrote: "Since I get asked a lot: Buy stock in several companies that make products & services that *you* believe in.
One investment advice by Elon Musk that I live and die by pic.twitter.com/iYxZBK8Pbb
— Teslaconomics (@Teslaconomics) December 12, 2024
"Only sell if you think their products & services are trending worse. Don't panic when the market does."
His sage advice will apparently 'serve you well in the long-term', with Teslaconomics saying they 'live and die by' Musk's musings.
It's typically not as easy as that, and responding to the advice, someone else wrote: "That’s exactly how I lost all my money when the stocks I held crashed and became delisted. Worst advice ever!"
We're not sure whether that person was joking, but agreeing with Musk, someone else added: "Only advice to live by: buy Tesla and then buy a little more Tesla. Repeat both steps until you run out of money."
A third concluded: "Legendary advice by @elonmusk that is simple to understand but most people will struggle to follow long term, especially the last part."
Suggesting that Musk still stands by these words of wisdom, he even retweeted Teslaconomics original tweet.
Musk's advice echoes the same principles of value investing that Warren Buffett made famous. The 94-year-old is one of the best-known investors in the world, and while he and Musk might disagree on cryptocurrency, they seem to be on the same page in terms of investing.
