- SpaceX raised $75 billion (£55.4bn) in the largest IPO on record.
- Musk's net worth is expected to exceed $1 trillion (£738bn).
- The gap between Musk and the world's second-richest person has widened sharply.
Elon Musk has become the world's first trillionaire after SpaceX's blockbuster stock market debut sent the value of his holdings soaring and rewrote the record books for personal wealth.
The SpaceX IPO, which raised $75 billion (£55.4bn) and valued the company at around $1.77 trillion (£1.3tn), is expected to lift Musk's net worth beyond $1 trillion (£738bn), according to estimates based on company filings and wealth calculations. The milestone places the SpaceX and Tesla chief in a league of his own, far ahead of every other billionaire on the planet.
The achievement follows years of rapid growth across Musk's business empire, but it was SpaceX's long-awaited market debut that appears to have delivered the final push. Before the IPO, his fortune was estimated at roughly $780 billion (£576bn). Much of the increase stems from the revaluation of his SpaceX stake, now estimated to be worth about $866 billion (£639bn).
A wealth gap unlike anything before
Musk's rise has widened the distance between him and the rest of the world's richest individuals.
While fortunes above $100 billion (£74bn) have become increasingly common among technology founders and investors, the trillion-dollar threshold had remained out of reach. The world's second-richest individual has remained closer to the $300 billion (£222bn) mark, leaving Musk hundreds of billions ahead of his nearest rivals.
The South African-born entrepreneur first built his reputation through Tesla and SpaceX, two companies that challenged industries long dominated by established players.
Tesla helped drive the shift towards electric vehicles, while SpaceX transformed the economics of space launches and built one of the world's largest satellite networks through Starlink. Investors are increasingly viewing the company as more than a space business, with growing interest in its artificial intelligence ambitions and future infrastructure projects.
Admiration, criticism and influence
Musk's growing fortune is also likely to reignite debate about the concentration of wealth and influence in the hands of a small number of technology entrepreneurs.
His reach extends far beyond Tesla and SpaceX. The billionaire also controls or has significant involvement in companies including X, xAI, Neuralink and The Boring Company. Collectively, the network of businesses has become so extensive that some investors have coined the term "Muskonomy" to describe the ecosystem surrounding him.
His influence has often stretched beyond business into politics and public debate. Since acquiring Twitter, later rebranded as X, in a $44 billion (£32.5bn) deal in 2022, Musk has become an increasingly prominent voice on issues ranging from free speech and immigration to government spending and regulation.
Those interventions have frequently generated controversy. He has faced criticism from politicians, regulators, journalists and investors, while some of his companies have encountered consumer boycotts and protests in recent years.
Despite that scrutiny, investors continue to back his businesses. Supporters argue that his companies have repeatedly succeeded in sectors many considered impossible to disrupt.
The SpaceX IPO now marks another milestone in that story. Whether Musk remains the world's only trillionaire may depend on how the company's shares perform after trading begins, but for now he has crossed a financial threshold that once seemed more like science fiction than reality.
