Bear in mind, this isn't "how rich" Elon is, eg. his liquid cash, but rather his net worth that takes assets/stock into consideration. I'm not particularly fond of the guy, but saying that he's worth more than 250 billion dollars seems like a bit of a stretch. He's got a cult-following and a never-ending hype cycle that greatly exacerbates the value of his stock and assets, which while technically valuable, doesn't really pan out in real life. I wouldn't be surprised if the dude is relatively cash-poor, considering the how the SEC breathes down his neck when he moves a muscle. If he tried unloading any of his ownership of his companies and/or stepped down from his leadership positions, his net worth would nosedive. People don't buy into Tesla or SpaceX for the value they present, they buy it because Elon will keep being Elon, and much like Steve Jobs before him, you can always count on the cool hipster to sell more status symbols.