SpaceX IPO scripts history: Elon Musk becomes world’s first trillionaire

Elon Musk is set to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX raised a record $75 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) on Thursday, underlining investor enthusiasm for the businesses at the centre of his empire. According to several media reports based on company filings, Musk’s net worth will exceed $1.1 trillion when the stock begins trading on Friday.

Elon Musk currently holds nearly 42 per cent of SpaceX’s common stock, which is around 4.8 billion shares, alongside stock options that give him a total equity stake of about 40-42 per cent. Thanks to a dual-class share structure, this translates to nearly 80 per cent voting control over the company. His equity stake in SpaceX is valued at $860 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Elon Musk’s net worth is currently pegged at $971 billion. The US-based technocrat has added $351 billion to his wealth in 2026 so far. He is more than 3 times richer than Larry Page ($304 billion), the second more wealthiest man on the planet. Musk’s wealth is more tha than his next three peers including Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezos.

Few business leaders have been as deeply embedded in popular culture as Musk, whose rise through Tesla and SpaceX made him a central figure in internet culture. At a time of rising concern over inequality and a souring public mood towards the ultra-wealthy, he has retained a loyal following despite his vast fortune and without the folksy image associated with tycoons such as Warren Buffett.
 

Investor backing and criticism
Before the share sale, Forbes had pegged Musk’s wealth at about $780 billion, far ahead of the next-ranked billionaire, Alphabet co-founder Larry Page. Most of Musk’s wealth now rests with SpaceX, where he holds a stake worth about $866 billion.

While supporters see Musk’s no-filter style as part of his appeal, critics have accused him of wielding oligarch-like power, questioned governance at his companies and objected to his increasingly partisan political interventions.

Business rise and political role
Musk became a household name through Tesla and SpaceX before expanding his influence with the $44-billion acquisition of Twitter in 2022. That gave him a direct channel to hundreds of millions of users and made him a prominent voice on politics, immigration, government spending and free speech.

His move into politics, especially his role in US President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency last year, has been one of his most contentious ventures. The political fallout coincided with weakening Tesla sales in several international markets in 2025, as protests and consumer boycotts targeted the electric vehicle maker.

Musk, 54, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, to a Canadian mother and South African father, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. He took over as Tesla chief executive in 2008, arguing that electric vehicles could combine high performance with software-driven features, a shift that some auto industry watchers say pushed traditional carmakers towards electric vehicles.