History’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire by the time markets closed on last Wednesday. Plunging shares in Tesla and SpaceX dragged the tech magnate down to billionaire status. As of 4pm ET, Forbes listed Musk’s net worth as $970.2bn.
Musk reached trillionaire status on 12 June after SpaceX’s historic initial public offering. The rocket, satellite and AI company’s debut on the stock market made Musk the first person with a net worth of more than $1tn. His fortune continued to hover around that gigantic figure in the weeks following the initial public offering (IPO).
Companies whose values were heavily linked to the AI boom, including Google’s parent, Alphabet, and chipmakers such as Samsung, were hit especially hard.
The SpaceX IPO, the largest in history, immediately vaulted Musk’s wealth while also tying it to the company’s stock price. SpaceX raised $75bn from its record-breaking IPO and its stocks increased by 19%, from its initial price of $135 per share, within 24 hours of going public. On Wednesday, SpaceX’s stocks were listed at $154.35.
Most of Musk’s wealth is tied up in stock and equity, and is not cash he can quickly spend. Still, his fortune is unprecedented, not just for its size but the speed at which it grew.
Market fluctuations mean it is possible that Musk could regain his trillionaire status in the near future if either Tesla or SpaceX shares rebound.
Although his is no longer a trillionaire, Musk is easily still the world’s richest person. The next wealthiest billionaire is the Google co-founder Larry Page, whose net worth is only about $284bn.
Musk’s fortune surged to around $1.1 trillion on 12 June 2026 after SpaceX’s IPO the largest in history sent shares soaring. Owning about 42% of SpaceX, his paper wealth rocketed alongside investor enthusiasm for space exploration and AI.
By late June 2026, a 30% drop in SpaceX shares and a 6% fall in Tesla shares, partly triggered by SpaceX’s $20bn bond plan, saw his net worth fall to roughly $957bn.
Oxfam highlighted that his trillionaire moment meant he briefly held more wealth than the poorest 46% of the global population combined about 3.8 billion people. The charity said his wealth had grown by over $550bn in a year, more than $1m per minute.