Elon Musk crowned the first trillionaire following the SpaceX launch – on paper at least –has been reduced back to a multi-billionaire
Elon Musk will always be the name that carries into history as the first trillionaire, even though he only enjoyed that wealth status for 12 days before the SpaceX stock price that catapulted him into that position on 12 June, tumbled along with Tesla.
See the share offering from SpaceX and details of how Elon Musk became the first trillionaire on this link.
It appears 12 days is a long time to hold a steady stock market price, as that’s been the case with SpaceX. Following its fully subscribed listing value of US$1.2 trillion at $US$150 a share, a buying frenzy took it to a peak price of US$225.64, a dizzy value of US$2.6 trillion but by 24 June the stock had crashed to US$154.60 a share.
And with a hiccup in the Tesla share price, it was the unfortunate repercussion that it dented the wealth of Elon musk and dropped his status to a mere multi-billionaire at US$957 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
How real is the Elon Musk money
The combination of Elon Musk’s shares in Tesla and SpaceX, valued at an estimated $US 1.1 trillion on 12 June, is what capitulated the billionaire in status.
However, this wealth comes with the very real caveat that it is tied up in stock and equity and is not able to be converted to cash quickly.
And, as is the nature of share market wealth, a good day on the market and a change in price could mean that it is possible that Musk will quickly regain his trillionaire status if either Tesla or SpaceX shares rebound.
However, it should be noted that once Musk followers that missed a placement in the initial SpaceX IPO and then forced to buy after the listing, thrust the stock to 67% above its $US135 listing price took their profits, there were not many other regular investors to fill the gap.
And it is a scenario of unwilling backers that may well continue for Musk and the merry men with multi-billionaire status as the general public grows tired of supporting individuals that can buy and sell ordinary people on a whim.
Musk did just that when he became a Special Government Employee in the Trump administration, where he was a lead in an advisory group known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
And the Musk role that lasted from early February to late May 2025, saw the world’s richest man given access to official US federal government spending and tasked with making any savings cut recommendations to the budget.
Musk initially pledged to cut up to $2 trillion from the US federal budget.
DOGE targeted the jobs of tens of thousands of federal civil servants. This included mass terminations across multiple agencies, such as the Department of Education and various health departments. And public health funding.
The subsequent disruption to the lives of thousands of people in this instance, and reduction of wealth for less advantaged people makes it unlikely that anyone affected will rush out and buy a Tesla anytime soon.
