(LOOTPRESS) – Elon Musk has officially become the world’s first trillionaire, at least on paper, after SpaceX’s highly anticipated initial public offering sent the company’s value soaring and pushed the billionaire entrepreneur’s fortune past the historic $1 trillion mark.
SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 per share under the ticker symbol SPCX. The stock quickly surged after it began trading Friday, climbing as high as $168.75 during intraday trading and dramatically increasing the value of Musk’s ownership stake in the company.
According to estimates from Forbes, Musk entered the IPO with a net worth of approximately $813 billion, already making him the richest person on Earth by a wide margin. The second-richest individual, Google co-founder Larry Page, is estimated to be worth about $288 billion.
The IPO pricing alone pushed Musk’s fortune to just over $1 trillion. As SpaceX shares climbed throughout the day, his net worth peaked at an estimated $1.18 trillion before fluctuating with the stock price.
Musk’s wealth now exceeds the economic output of most countries around the world. According to World Bank data, only 19 nations have annual gross domestic products greater than $1 trillion.
The massive increase in Musk’s fortune stems largely from his ownership stake in SpaceX. Regulatory filings show Musk owns approximately 4.8 billion shares, representing about 42% of the company, along with 350 million stock options exercisable at $8.39 per share.
At the IPO price of $135 per share, Musk’s SpaceX holdings were valued at roughly $648 billion, while his stock options added another $44.3 billion. The public offering increased the estimated value of his SpaceX stake by more than $192 billion, enough to push his total net worth beyond the trillion-dollar threshold.
When SpaceX shares reached their intraday high of $168.75, the value of Musk’s holdings climbed even further, bringing his estimated fortune to approximately $1.18 trillion.
The IPO is also expected to create wealth for thousands of SpaceX employees and investors. Reports indicate roughly 4,400 SpaceX workers could become millionaires as a result of the company’s public debut.
Not everyone is celebrating the milestone. Critics have pointed to Musk’s trillionaire status as evidence of growing wealth inequality. Nabil Ahmed, senior director of economic justice at Oxfam America, described the achievement as a symbol of a “new Gilded Age” and said Musk’s rise to trillionaire status represents “a new pinnacle of oligarchy.”
Oxfam estimates Musk’s fortune now exceeds the combined wealth of roughly 3.8 billion people, nearly half of the world’s population.
Despite the historic milestone, Musk’s net worth remains heavily tied to SpaceX’s stock price, meaning future market fluctuations could push his fortune above or below the trillion-dollar mark in the days ahead.
