In Oct. 2025, Elon Musk broke records by becoming the first person ever to reach a net worth of $500 billion. The world’s richest person has amassed his great wealth through several sources, primarily Tesla and SpaceX, and it seems possible that he could become the first person ever to hit the $1 trillion mark.
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The number $500 billion is so beyond the comprehension of most Americans that it’s helpful to break it down into bite-sized pieces to help understand it.
Here’s a look at how much just 1% of Musk’s net worth is, and how much income you could earn by investing it.
Musk’s latest estimated net worth is $500 billion. One percent of $500 billion is $5 billion. Thus, in some imaginary universe where you had access to 1% of Musk’s net worth, you’d have $5 billion for investment.
Investment is all about risk and reward. Depending on your time horizon, investment objectives, and risk tolerance, you could earn a wide range of returns on the $5 billion you graciously received from Mr. Musk.
Here’s a look at how much you could potentially earn on various investment choices.
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Treasury bills are among the safest investments in the world. As a result, they pay a relatively low yield. However, as interest rates have been relatively high over the past few years, you can still earn about 3.6% to 4% on a Treasury bill.
With a $5 billion investment, this would generate between $180 million and $240 million annually, or $15-$20 million per month.
Bear in mind that Treasury bills work differently from most other investments. Rather than paying interest or dividends — or generating capital gains — they are priced at a discount and grow in value until they mature. For example, if you bought $10,000 of Treasury bills, you might only pay $9,600. At maturity, you’d receive the full $10,000, earning $400.
A high-yield savings account is another type of conservative investment that is insured by the FDIC and pays interest monthly. Interest on high-yield savings accounts fluctuates regularly in line with market interest rates, so you may earn a varying return.
In the current environment, you can get rates similar to U.S. Treasury bills, in the 3.6% to 4% range. That translates to the same $180 million to $240 million in income, or $15-$20 million per month.
Corporate bonds are only backed by the company that issues them, not any government or FDIC insurance. As a result, they are slightly riskier. In exchange for this risk, they pay higher yields, with the riskiest bonds paying the highest yield.
In the current market environment, investment-grade corporate bonds yield between about 3.6% to 6.7%, according to Fidelity. Yields vary depending on bond rating and length of maturity. With $5 billion to invest, you could earn between about $180 million and $375 million annually with investment-grade corporate bonds. This translates to $15 to $31.25 million per month.
Over the long run, stocks provide an average annual return of about 10%. But unlike the other types of investments on this list, this return isn’t guaranteed, and it doesn’t come in the form of interest payments. While some stocks do pay dividends, investors generally buy equities to generate capital appreciation.
However, with the higher potential return comes higher risk and volatility. The “average” 10% annual return may include years in which the market drops 20% or more, so you have to take this into consideration if you invest in stocks.
If you were to earn the average 10% stock market return in any given year, your $5 billion investment could return you $500 million per year, or $41.7 million per month.
While this thought example may be fun to explore, some real-world considerations would come into play if you did somehow access 1% of Musk’s wealth.
First, Musk might have a tough time giving you that money to invest in the first place. As is the case with many billionaires, much of Musk’s net worth is illiquid, tied up in company stock and options and other assets that can’t be easily converted to cash. Musk also wouldn’t be able to just give you the money without paying gift tax.
Second, any money you earn on your $5 billion investment would be taxable, with a few exceptions. In most cases, you’d pay ordinary income tax on your interest or dividend payments and/or capital gains taxes on your stock profits.
Another important item to factor in is the sequence of your returns. While a Treasury bill might pay you a steady rate of return, when it matures, you’ll have to reinvest that money, typically at a different rate. If you’re invested in the stock market, it’s entirely possible that you could lose 10% or 20% for a year or two in a row before you start generating profits. From 2000 through 2009, a period known as “the lost decade,” the S&P 500 averaged a loss of 0.9% annually, according to AMG Wealth. This is one of the risks you’d be taking by investing in the stock market.
Depending on which investments you own, $5 billion could generate between $15 million and $42 million per month, or $180-$500 million per year.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How Much Monthly Income Could You Get from 1% of Elon Musk’s Wealth?
