SpaceX shares soar, Musk becomes richest person ever

Elon Musk made history on Friday by becoming the world's first trillionaire, after SpaceX debuted on the Nasdaq at $150 per share.

The listing pushed the rocket company's market capitalisation past $2 trillion. Musk's personal fortune is now estimated to be between $1.1 trillion and $1.26 trillion.

What sets Musk apart from every other wealthy individual on Earth is that he is now richer than the GDP of many countries. His total fortune is even greater than the combined wealth of the next four wealthiest people in the world.

How was Musk's fortune built?

Musk's journey to becoming a 13-figure rich man began in Silicon Valley. He helped found X.com, which later became known as PayPal.

The acquisition of PayPal by eBay in 2002 brought Musk some money, which he then invested elsewhere.

SpaceX

SpaceX became the primary source of Musk's wealth. By developing the reusable first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, he reduced the price of launches by about 90%, transforming the cost structure of space missions.

The company's network of satellites in low Earth orbit for the internet, known as Starlink, made it possible for SpaceX to earn money from millions of customers around the world. Using Starship as a heavy-lift rocket — the largest in the history of spaceflight — the company now aims for missions to Mars and AI data centres in space orbits.

Tesla, Optimus and the autonomous car concept

Tesla revolutionised the global auto market by producing the Model 3 and Model Y. These vehicles have made Tesla the most valuable automaker in the world.

AI, X and the 'everything app'

Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and rebranded it as X, before combining it with his AI projects. He created xAI and developed the Colossus and Colossus II supercomputing clusters, intended to compete with leading AI laboratories.

He later consolidated xAI into SpaceX's corporate structure, as artificial intelligence became an essential part of the company's investor pitch.

Political influence

Musk was also a major donor to Donald Trump's 2024 US presidential campaign. As part of this involvement, he led the Department of Government Efficiency, a federal advisory group that cut $215 billion in funding, including the shutdown of USAID.