Matei Zaharia vs Elon Musk
Real-time net worth, career, and company comparison — updated June 2026.
Wealth at a Glance
Net worth gap: $802.6B — equivalent to 99% of Elon's total wealth.
Tale of the Tape
Career Highlights
Matei Zaharia
- 2009Created Apache SparkDeveloped Apache Spark while at UC Berkeley, a fast and general engine for large-scale data processing.
- 2013Co-founded DatabricksCo-founded Databricks to commercialize Apache Spark, offering a unified platform for data analytics and AI.
- 2014ACM Doctoral Dissertation AwardAwarded the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award for his work on Apache Spark.
- 2019Presidential Early Career AwardReceived the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
- 2023SIGOPS Mark Weiser AwardAwarded the ACM SIGOPS Mark Weiser Award.
Elon Musk
- 1995Co-founded Zip2Co-founded Zip2, an online city guide for newspapers.
- 1999Co-founded X.comCo-founded X.com, which later became PayPal.
- 2002Founded SpaceXFounded Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX).
- 2004Became Chairman of TeslaLed the first funding round for Tesla and became its Chairman.
- 2008Became CEO of TeslaBecame CEO of Tesla Motors.
Net Worth History
| Year | Matei | Elon | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $1.6B | — | — |
| 2022 | $1.6B | $146B | Elon |
| 2023 | — | $235.5B | — |
| 2024 | $5B | $839.6B | Elon |
| 2025 | $5B | $839B | Elon |
| 2026 | $5.031B | $807.656B | Elon |
The Verdict: Elon Musk vs Matei Zaharia
As of June 2026, Elon Musk leads this comparison with a net worth of $807.656B, placing at #1 in the global rankings. Matei Zaharia follows at $5.031B — a gap of $802.6B.
Both executives operate in the Technology sector, making this a direct peer comparison. Their wealth trajectories reflect the broader performance of that industry over time, though individual company strategy, equity ownership structure, and capital allocation decisions have driven meaningfully different outcomes.
Elon Musk is 54 years old versus 40 for Matei Zaharia, a difference of 14 years. Age context matters in wealth comparisons: a younger billionaire at the same net worth has had less time to accumulate — and in many cases represents a higher compound annual growth rate on their wealth.
Net worth figures are estimates calculated from public shareholding disclosures, stock price data, and reported asset values. See our full methodology.
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Net worth estimates updated daily from public financial disclosures. Methodology · Report an error