According to reporting from The Epoch Times, Elon Musk has become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX made its historic debut on Wall Street, marking a milestone that would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago. The surge in SpaceX shares on June 12 pushed Musk’s net worth beyond the trillion dollar mark, widening his lead over every other billionaire on Earth.
The First Trillionaire
Musk entered the day as the world’s richest person, with Forbes estimating his wealth at approximately $981 billion before markets opened. That changed almost immediately after SpaceX shares began trading.
The stock opened around $150 per share, surged as high as $168, and closed near $161, delivering a first day gain of roughly 19 percent. Investors quickly drove SpaceX’s valuation to approximately $2 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world and pushing Musk’s fortune beyond the trillion dollar threshold.
The achievement is historic. For decades, the idea of an individual possessing a trillion dollars in wealth was largely confined to science fiction or economic thought experiments. Now, according to multiple reports, Musk’s net worth is estimated at roughly $1.1 trillion.
Who Is Elon Musk?
Musk’s rise did not begin with rockets.
He first made his fortune by helping create Zip2 and later PayPal. After selling those companies, he invested heavily in two ventures that many observers considered highly risky at the time: Tesla and SpaceX.
Tesla helped transform the electric vehicle industry. According to The Epoch Times, Tesla has generated a staggering 31,000 percent return for shareholders since its 2010 public debut. Meanwhile, SpaceX revolutionized the economics of space travel through reusable rockets, dramatically lowering launch costs and creating entirely new commercial opportunities in orbit.
Beyond those companies, Musk also launched ventures including Neuralink, xAI, and The Boring Company, building a business empire that spans transportation, artificial intelligence, communications, energy, and aerospace.
The SpaceX Explosion
The biggest driver of Musk’s trillionaire status is SpaceX.
Founded in 2002, the company has grown into what Fox Business described as the world’s largest space company. It dominates commercial launch services, serves as a major NASA contractor, and operates Starlink, a global satellite internet network.
Starlink has become especially important. According to SpaceX’s IPO filing, the satellite internet business generated more than $11 billion in revenue and accounted for roughly 61 percent of the company’s total revenue.
Investors are not simply buying today’s business. They are betting on Musk’s long term vision.
SpaceX has outlined plans that include establishing a permanent presence on the Moon, creating a human colony on Mars, and eventually launching massive data centers into orbit. The company also acquired xAI earlier this year and has ambitions to compete with leading artificial intelligence firms.
At the IPO ceremony, Musk described the company’s vision in grand terms.
“We want to be able to take anyone who wants to go to the moon, anyone who wants to go to Mars or anywhere in the solar system,” Musk said.
He added, “Whoever you are watching this, SpaceX wants to be able to take you to the moon, take you to Mars, and ultimately beyond.”
The Musk Premium
Many analysts believe investors place a special value on Musk himself.
SpaceX’s prospectus made clear that the company remains heavily tied to its founder. Musk retains approximately 85 percent of the voting power, giving him enormous influence over the company’s future direction.
This phenomenon has become known as the “Musk premium.”
Investors are willing to pay extraordinary valuations because they believe Musk can achieve goals that others consider impossible. SpaceX has accumulated more than $41 billion in deficits over its history and does not intend to focus on quarterly earnings. Yet investors still rushed to buy shares.
John Belton of Gabelli Funds described the company as “the ultimate growth stock.”
“I think this is a company with significant growth potential ahead of it,” Belton said. “There are a lot of exciting opportunities ahead.”
What a Trillion Dollars Really Means
The Associated Press attempted to put Musk’s wealth into perspective.
One trillion dollars could buy nearly 2.5 million homes at current median U.S. housing prices. It could purchase more than 243 billion gallons of gasoline. If divided equally among Earth’s nearly 8.2 billion people, every person would receive about $122.
Another striking comparison involves the world’s richest individuals.
Musk now stands more than $700 billion ahead of the second richest person on Earth. In fact, the combined fortunes of Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Ellison barely exceed Musk’s net worth alone.
The World’s Richest People After Musk
The next five wealthiest individuals, according to figures cited in the reporting, are:
- Larry Page – approximately $293 billion to $296 billion
- Sergey Brin – approximately $271 billion to $273 billion
- Jeff Bezos – approximately $247 billion to $252 billion
- Larry Ellison – approximately $227 billion to $230 billion
- Michael Dell – approximately $224 billion
Each remains enormously wealthy by any historical standard. Yet none are even close to Musk’s estimated trillion dollar fortune.
Whether SpaceX ultimately justifies its massive valuation remains to be seen. Investors are wagering that reusable rockets, satellite internet, artificial intelligence, orbital data centers, and eventually human settlements beyond Earth will create industries that do not yet fully exist.
For now, however, Wall Street has rendered its verdict. SpaceX’s blockbuster debut has transformed Elon Musk from the world’s richest billionaire into the world’s first trillionaire, establishing a new benchmark for wealth in the modern age and further cementing his place as one of the most influential entrepreneurs in business history.
