Elon Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX IPO
▼ Summary
– Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX’s IPO, with his combined SpaceX and Tesla stock worth over $1 trillion.
– Musk spent around $300 million funding Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and later led the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which canceled contracts without thorough review.
– The dismantling of USAID under Musk’s leadership has reportedly led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, according to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
– Tesla shareholders awarded Musk a pay package potentially worth $1 trillion, contingent on valuation and operational milestones.
– Musk owns over 80% voting control of SpaceX, can hand-select its board, and can borrow against his shares tax-free without selling them.
Elon Musk officially became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday, following the highly anticipated SpaceX IPO on public markets, according to Bloomberg News.
The SpaceX founder and CEO held approximately $860 billion worth of shares in the rocket company after the stock was priced at $135 per share ahead of its market debut. Combined with his stake in Tesla and an immediate surge in SpaceX’s stock price on its first day of trading, Musk’s on-paper net worth has now crossed the staggering threshold of $1,000,000,000,000. Shares continued climbing in early trading on Friday, further inflating his fortune.
Musk reaches this historic milestone at a moment of both immense influence and growing controversy. Throughout 2024, he poured roughly $300 million into funding Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. That investment paid off with a prominent role in the Trump administration, where Musk led the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.” Critics note the department failed to meaningfully reduce overall government spending, instead focusing on canceling contracts with minimal review or regard for their impact.
His influence extended to dismantling entire agencies, including USAID , a move the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health has linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths.
And Musk’s wealth trajectory shows no signs of slowing. Last year, Tesla shareholders approved a pay package that could eventually be worth $1 trillion on its own, contingent on the company hitting specific valuation and operational targets. Meanwhile, while one billion of his SpaceX shares are locked until the company establishes a human colony on Mars , a goal SpaceX itself has described as “improbable” , Musk can borrow against those shares immediately. This allows him to access billions in cash without selling stock or paying taxes on that wealth.
With SpaceX now accountable to public shareholders, Musk retains extraordinary control. He holds more than 80% of the voting power, personally selects the board of directors, and has structured the company to severely limit legal challenges. As SpaceX pursues what it calls the largest addressable market in history, Musk’s influence , and his fortune , will only continue to grow.
(Source: TechCrunch)
