SpaceX IPO makes Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire

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The Math Behind the Trillion-Dollar Milestone

The ascent to 13-digit wealth rests on a valuation that defies traditional financial metrics. Forbes reported that SpaceX planned to price its IPO at $135 per share, targeting a total company valuation of $1.75 trillion. Other reports from the AP and CBS News place that valuation slightly higher at $1.77 trillion. Musk’s stake is the primary engine of this wealth. He owns 4.8 billion shares—roughly 42% of the company’s common stock—and holds 350 million stock options with an exercise price of $8.39 per share. At the $135 target price, this holding alone is worth $688 billion. When combined with his Tesla holdings, the numbers shift the global wealth hierarchy. Musk owns nearly 12% of Tesla stock (worth $176 billion) and holds Tesla stock options valued at $122 billion. This puts him in a different stratosphere than his nearest competitors; Forbes notes that Google co-founder Larry Page has hovered around $300 billion, less than one-third of Musk’s potential value.

Trading Billions in Losses for Visionary Capital

The market’s enthusiasm exists despite a stark gap between SpaceX’s valuation and its current profitability. The company is losing billions of dollars annually. NBC News reported that SpaceX posted a net loss of $4.3 billion for the three months ending March 31. For the full year 2025, the numbers remain strained. Forbes cites a net loss of $4.9 billion on $18.7 billion in revenue. The AP and CBS News provide a slightly different figure, noting a $2.6 billion loss from operations on the same $18.7 billion revenue. Investors are not betting on current cash flow, but on a perceived “Elon Premium.” This valuation is driven by faith in Musk’s ability to dominate the satellite-based internet market via Starlink and his pursuit of artificial intelligence. SpaceX’s filing suggests a staggering potential AI revenue of up to $26.5 trillion, though this relies on the currently impossible goal of placing data centers in space.

Voting Control and the Governance Gap

While the company is now public, it is far from a traditional public corporation. Musk has structured the IPO to ensure he retains absolute authority. He serves as CEO, chairman, and chief technology officer. Control is maintained through a dual-class share structure. Musk holds 5.22 billion Class B shares, each granting 10 votes. This concentration of power leads to differing reports on his exact influence: the AP and CBS News state he holds 82.4% of the voting power, while NBC News reports his voting control at 85%. This level of control means that while retail investors—who can access the stock through platforms like Robinhood, Fidelity, and Schwab—can own a piece of the company, they have virtually no say in its direction.

The Tesla Tether and Political Friction

Musk’s path to maintaining 12-figure wealth is not guaranteed. A significant portion of his net worth is tied to a strict employment agreement with Tesla. According to the AP, Musk must remain Tesla’s CEO or an executive responsible for product development until January 2028. If he leaves before then, he forfeits $122 billion in stock options. This financial tether comes at a time of increasing volatility. In 2025, Tesla faced weakening sales in several international markets, driven by consumer boycotts and protests. Much of this friction stems from Musk’s political activities, specifically his role in President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. The friction is not just political but strategic. Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities has suggested that Tesla and SpaceX may merge next year, a move that would consolidate Musk’s AI and transport ambitions into a single, massive entity.

Existential Ambitions and Operational Risks

The SpaceX IPO prospectus departs from standard financial prose, reading more like a manifesto than a regulatory filing. It explicitly outlines the use of proceeds to fund the colonization of the moon and Mars. “a permanent human colony” on the red planet with “at least one million inhabitants” as existential threats loom that could consign man to “the same fate as the dinosaurs.” Musk, via CBS News These galactic goals contrast with grounded operational failures. A worker recently died at a Texas facility after falling from scaffolding. Furthermore, Reuters has previously documented hundreds of unreported worker injuries at SpaceX facilities. The company’s AI aspirations also face skepticism. While Musk launched xAI in 2023, the venture has seen all 11 of its original co-founders depart. IDC analyst Arnal Dayaratna noted that SpaceX’s primary AI product, the Grok chatbot, is “less impressive than anything that we see from any other major player in the space, whether that’s OpenAI, or Anthropic, or (Google’s) Gemini.” As SpaceX begins trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, the market will decide if Musk’s vision of a multi-planetary, AI-driven future justifies a trillion-dollar price tag, or if the company’s operational losses and governance risks will eventually catch up to its valuation.