Elon Musk Is Worth More Than $1 Trillion — Depending on Who Does the Math

Thanks to SpaceX’s success, Elon Musk may have reached trillionaire status. SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 per share on June 11. According to Forbes, the company sold approximately 555.6 million shares and raised $75 billion, giving SpaceX a valuation of about $1.77 trillion.

The deal became the largest IPO in history based on the amount raised. It also immediately placed SpaceX among the most valuable publicly traded companies in the United States. Now, folks are wondering what that means for Elon’s net worth.

SpaceX’s initial public offering pushed the value of Elon’s business empire beyond $1 trillion, making him the first known person to reach the milestone. However, the answer comes with a financial asterisk. Reuters estimates Elon’s fortune now exceeds $1.1 trillion, while Forbes placed his real-time net worth at approximately $982.6 billion on June 12. The disagreement largely comes down to how each outlet values his SpaceX holdings and whether it counts stock awards that will vest over time.

Elon did not personally receive the entire $75 billion. Instead, the IPO created a public price for the massive SpaceX stake he already owned. As the company’s valuation jumped, so did the estimated value of his shares. Reuters calculated that Musk’s SpaceX holdings were worth roughly $866 billion at the IPO price. When combined with his Tesla shares, stock awards and stakes in other companies, his estimated fortune rose above $1.1 trillion.

Elon also kept tight control of SpaceX. The company’s dual-class share structure gives him approximately 82% of its voting power after the IPO, even though he owns a smaller economic percentage. Essentially, Elon’s net worth soared because his existing SpaceX shares became much more valuable.

Elon’s exact net worth depends on who does the math. Reuters estimates that his fortune exceeds $1.1 trillion when it includes his SpaceX holdings and stock components scheduled to vest over time.

Forbes listed Elon’s real-time net worth at $982.6 billion on June 12. Bloomberg-based reporting placed him around $971 billion after valuing his SpaceX stake more conservatively. That is a huge gap, but billionaire rankings often disagree when someone owns large stakes in companies or holds complicated stock awards.

Elon started building his fortune during the original dot-com era. According to CNBC, he co-founded the online city guide company Zip2, which Compaq purchased in 1999. He then helped launch X.com, an online financial company that eventually became part of PayPal. eBay purchased PayPal in 2002.

Elon used money from those early deals to fund much bigger and riskier projects. He founded SpaceX in 2002 and became an early investor in Tesla in 2004. He later took over as Tesla’s CEO in 2008.

SpaceX eventually became his most valuable asset. The company built reusable rockets, secured major government and commercial contracts and developed Starlink, its satellite internet service. Starlink now generates most of SpaceX’s revenue and serves millions of customers around the world.