Elon Musk Falls Below Trillionaire Status as Tech Sell-Off Hits SpaceX and Tesla
Elon Musk is no longer a trillionaire after a sharp decline in the value of technology stocks wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from his paper wealth, according to the latest figures from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The index, updated on Tuesday, estimated Musk’s net worth at approximately $957 billion, down from about $1.11 trillion less than two weeks earlier. Despite the decline, the billionaire entrepreneur remains the world’s richest individual by a significant margin.
Musk first crossed the trillion-dollar threshold following the blockbuster public listing of SpaceX on the Nasdaq exchange on June 12. The company’s shares were priced at $135 during its initial public offering before opening at $150, giving the aerospace giant a market valuation of more than $1.77 trillion.
As SpaceX shares continued to rally, reaching a high of $225.64 on June 16, Musk’s fortune climbed to an estimated peak of $1.32 trillion, making him the first person to achieve the milestone.
However, the rally quickly lost momentum as investors grew increasingly concerned about rising artificial intelligence infrastructure costs, heavy capital spending across the technology sector, and persistently high interest rates. The broader market downturn hit several major technology companies, including Nvidia, Intel and AMD.
SpaceX was among the hardest hit, with its shares falling more than 30 per cent from their mid-June peak to around $156.
The decline accelerated on Monday, June 22, when SpaceX shares reportedly dropped 16 per cent in a single trading session, erasing an estimated $240 billion from Musk’s personal wealth. The losses deepened after shares of electric vehicle maker Tesla, where Musk owns roughly 12 per cent, fell nearly six per cent the following day.
Unlike many of the world’s wealthiest individuals, Musk’s fortune is heavily concentrated in just two companies. SpaceX accounts for nearly 80 per cent of his estimated wealth, while most of the remainder comes from his stake in Tesla. That concentration makes his net worth especially sensitive to fluctuations in the stock prices of both companies.
Market analysts say such volatility is not unusual for newly listed, high-growth companies, particularly those trading at lofty valuations.
Danni Hewson, Head of Financial Analysis at AJ Bell, said investor sentiment has played a significant role in SpaceX’s rapid rise and subsequent decline.
“For a stock like SpaceX, a lot of decision making might have been emotional and based on the anticipation of huge leaps forward in space exploration and utilisation, but investing should be something treated with clear eyes and patience, even when such huge numbers are involved,” Hewson said.
Further market pressure could emerge later in July when restrictions preventing company insiders from selling their shares begin to ease.
Even so, Musk’s return to trillionaire status may not be far away. Analysts note that a relatively modest recovery of about six per cent in SpaceX’s share price would be enough to push his fortune back above the trillion-dollar mark.
