Elon Musk Becomes World's First Trillionaire After SpaceX Stock Market Debut
Elon Musk's financial ascent culminated on Friday as he became the world's first trillionaire, propelled by the record-breaking stock market debut of his aerospace company, SpaceX. According to Bloomberg, Musk's net worth now stands at an estimated $1.11tn, positioning him far above figures such as Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and Bernard Arnault of LVMH.
Musk, who first gained prominence in the tech industry during the late 1990s, was not always at the pinnacle of global wealth. In January 2020, his fortune was approximately $28bn, placing him as the 35th richest person globally. However, his wealth saw a dramatic increase that year, driven by the sharp growth in value of his primary companies: electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and the space exploration and AI firm SpaceX, in both of which he holds substantial stakes.
His wealth trajectory has been volatile, marked by significant surges and declines influenced by Tesla's share price fluctuations, the increasing valuation of SpaceX, and shifts in political and investor sentiment, particularly during his engagement with the Trump administration. By January 2021, Musk briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the world's richest individual.
A downturn in US tech stocks in 2022 led to a dip in his fortune, which further declined sharply in early 2025 due to investor concerns regarding his involvement with the Trump administration coinciding with a slump in Tesla's share price. Despite these setbacks, he has consistently recovered, now standing nearly four times richer than Larry Page and more than five times wealthier than Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg.
Musk's immense wealth is predominantly held in stock. He owns a 12% stake in Tesla, valued at approximately $1.5tn, and a 42% stake in SpaceX, now worth over $2tn. A substantial portion of these shares is pledged as collateral against personal loans, with less than 0.1% of his net worth reportedly held in cash, as he stated on X in February. He also holds stakes in other ventures, including The Boring Company and Neuralink. This reliance on paper assets, rather than liquid cash, underscores the speculative nature of modern ultra-wealth.
