Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has come a step away from the historic status of the world’s first trillionaire. As Reuters reports, the trigger for the record revaluation of the entrepreneur’s capital was the long‑anticipated initial public offering of SpaceX. Underwriters’ preliminary estimates put the company’s valuation at about $866 billion ahead of the start of open trading. Reuters journalists say that taking into account the market value of Tesla and Musk’s other commercial assets, his total wealth could exceed $1.1 trillion.
The Washington Post (WP) has urged caution in those estimates and noted the need for significant qualification of the billionaire’s financial status. The outlet’s experts found that a large portion of the new block of SpaceX shares granted to Musk is tightly tied to long‑term KPIs, including the achievement of ambitious goals such as successful colonization of Mars. Excluding these conditional options, Musk cannot yet be considered a full trillionaire. SpaceX’s shares were set to debut on the exchange on Friday, June 12. If their market price during the regular session holds at $140 or above, Musk will officially attain “paper trillionaire” status even without the Mars program.
Meanwhile, a serious political debate has erupted around the upcoming SpaceX listing. According to Bloomberg, a number of senior officials in the administration of US President Donald Trump have direct financial interests in SpaceX or in an AI startup affiliated with it, xAI. White House critics note that a successful listing of the high‑tech company will allow already wealthy members of the current US authorities to multiply their personal fortunes, a development that raises questions among independent observers.
