Elon Musk’s net worth poised to sail past $1 trillion in SpaceX IPO
Elon Musk photographed at SpaceX in Brownsville, Texas.
Marvin Joseph | Washington Post | Getty Images
The richest person in the world is on the verge of trillionaire status.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk owns shares in the reusable rocket maker worth $866.5 billion on paper. updated IPO prospectus It was published on Wednesday. SpaceX said it plans to price its upcoming IPO at $135 per share for a valuation of about $1.77 trillion.
The SpaceX offer, expected to be made next week for 54-year-old Musk, comes after 16 years Tesla’s people. Currently, the electric vehicle maker has shares worth approximately $355 billion, with options that could contribute over $100 billion to that figure.
Following the IPO, Musk’s voting control over SpaceX will be over 82%, according to Wednesday’s filing. However, he must hold all his shares for one year.
“We believe that Mr. Musk’s significant ownership interest in us provides him with an economic incentive to help us succeed,” SpaceX said in the risk factors section of its prospectus. After the 366-day lock-in period, “Mr. Musk will not be subject to any obligation to maintain his ownership interest in us and may elect to sell or otherwise reduce all or a significant portion of his ownership interest in us at any time thereafter,” the filing states.
Musk’s net worth has been rising steadily for over a decade, with Tesla’s shares taking off in a big way in 2013. Musk first became the richest person in the world in 2021. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. However, Tesla’s shares lost 65% of their value in 2022 and rose again to new highs in the following years.
Forbes Musk’s net worth is currently listed at $826 billion; this figure is much higher Google co-founder Larry Page comes in second with just under $300 billion.
Assuming SpaceX hits the Nasdaq next week at or near its expected valuation, Musk will run two of the eight most valuable companies in the United States. SpaceX would be ahead of Tesla Meta Among the trillion dollar names.
But in terms of revenue, SpaceX is much smaller than these mega-majors. Last year, SpaceX generated $18.67 billion in sales. Meanwhile, Meta’s revenue exceeded $200 billion and Tesla recorded sales of almost $95 billion.
Some investors have recently suggested that Musk’s ultimate plan may be to merge SpaceX and Tesla as a way to combine AI resources and facilitate future capital raises. In every company there are lucrative economic incentives that involve some very distant criteria.
SpaceX tied Musk’s compensation awards to two milestones: reaching a market cap of $7.5 trillion and colonizing Mars with a population of at least 1 million. Tesla shareholders, meanwhile, approved a pay plan consisting of 12 tranches late last year, with each payout tied to market capitalization gains and operational achievements.
—CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report
WRISTWATCH: SpaceX is considering setting its IPO price at $135 per share
