SpaceX, Tesla and xAI push musk closer to the world’s first US$1 trillion personal fortune
Elon Musk now sits in wealth territory no one has ever reached before: more than US$600bn in personal net worth, powered by an US$800bn valuation for SpaceX and a swelling portfolio of high-growth bets in space, EVs and AI.
According to Forbes, a recent SpaceX tender offer valued the company at US$800bn, up from US$400bn in August, effectively doubling the firm’s worth and boosting the fortune of Musk, who owns an estimated 42 percent stake, by US$168bn to about US$677bn as of 12 pm Eastern on Monday.
This makes Musk the first person ever worth US$600bn or more and noted that no one else has ever reached US$500bn.
SpaceX has become the cornerstone of that fortune.
Forbes reported that Musk’s stake in the rocket maker is now worth an estimated US$336bn, making it his most valuable asset.
His roughly 12 percent holding in Tesla is worth about US$197bn, excluding stock options from his 2018 CEO Performance Award that a Delaware judge voided in January 2024.
Forbes said it has discounted those options by 50 percent, to US$69bn, pending Musk’s appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The private market could push valuations even higher.
One SpaceX investor told Forbes the company is targeting an IPO in 2026 that could value it at around US$1.5tn, and Reuters separately reported that SpaceX is preparing to go public next year at a valuation of US$800bn.
Both outlets said representatives for Musk and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
On the listed side, Tesla continues to play a crucial role.
Reuters reported that Musk’s roughly 12 percent stake in the EV maker has benefited from a 13 percent rise in Tesla shares so far this year despite flagging sales, with the stock up nearly 4 percent on Monday after Musk said the company was testing “robotaxis” without safety monitors in the front passenger seat.
In November, Tesla shareholders approved a US$1tn pay plan for Musk, described as the largest corporate pay package in history.
Forbes reported that the record-breaking deal could give him up to US$1tn in additional stock if Tesla hits “Mars shot” performance milestones, such as growing its market cap more than eightfold over the next ten years.
Musk’s AI ambitions add another fast-growing pillar.
Reuters reported that his artificial-intelligence startup xAI is in advanced talks to raise US$15bn in fresh equity at a valuation of US$230bn.
As per Forbes, xAI Holdings—formed when Musk merged his AI startup xAI with his social media company X (formerly Twitter)—is reportedly seeking funding at that same US$230bn valuation, more than double the US$113bn valuation Musk cited when he created the company in March.
Forbes estimates that Musk owns a 53 percent stake in xAI Holdings worth about US$60bn.
The latest surge caps a rapid ascent over the past five years.
Musk’s net worth stood at US$24.6bn in March 2020 before soaring Tesla shares made him the fifth person ever worth US$100bn by August of that year.
Forbes reported that he became the world’s richest person for the first time in January 2021 at nearly US$190bn. He then crossed US$200bn in September 2021, US$300bn in November 2021, US$400bn in December 2024 and US$500bn in October.
Oracle’s Larry Ellison is the only other person to hit the US$300bn and US$400bn marks.
Musk now holds about a US$425bn lead over current No. 2 Larry Page, who is worth an estimated US$252bn, and is just US$23bn short of the US$700bn mark—placing him closer to becoming “a trillionaire” than to losing his title as the world’s richest person.
