Elon Musk became world’s first trillionaire on June 12, then watched $363 billion disappear within a fortnight

Elon Musk’s race to become the world’s first trillionaire is over just two weeks after it started. The Tesla and SpaceX chief’s fortune now stands at $957 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after a sharp decline in the shares of both companies lost hundreds of billions of dollars.

But Elon Musk remains by far the richest person on the planet.

Elon Musk, the co-founder of seven companies including electric car maker Tesla, rocket maker SpaceX and artificial intelligence startup xAI, crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time on June 12, when Space Exploration Technologies Corp, the official name behind the SpaceX brand, was listed on Nasdaq for the first time.

The company priced its initial public offering at $135 per share and opened at $150, raising $75 billion as the largest IPO on record and valuing the rocket and satellite group at close to $1.77 trillion.

Shares climbed further throughout the day, with SpaceX’s valuation soaring to nearly $2 trillion by the end of the first session, underscoring the weight of Musk’s roughly 38% stake in the company, including options.

The rally did not end there. As of June 16, SpaceX shares climbed to $225.64 and Elon Musk’s fortune rose to $1.32 trillion, making him the first person in history to surpass that mark.

This peak did not hold. SpaceX shares have since retreated into the opening range, recently trading around $156, down 31% from their high. The retreat cost Musk about $363 billion in just over a week, and his fortune reached $957 billion as of June 24, according to Bloomberg’s calculation. Larry Page ranks second on the global rich list with $297 billion; This makes a difference of more than $660 billion.

SpaceX stock price: Nasdaq crashes 16% in debut

Most of the damage came in a single session. SpaceX shares fell more than 16 percent on Monday, the second-biggest one-day loss of market value on record for any company, following Nvidia Corp’s nearly $590 billion drop last year. The slide erased a close to $400 billion loss in SpaceX’s valuation and reduced Elon Musk’s net worth by about $240 billion that day alone, dropping it to about $1.08 trillion before the declines continued.

Tesla was not spared either. Its shares are down 4.14% since June 16 and more than 7% for the year; This increased the pressure on Musk’s balance sheet at a time when SpaceX was already under pressure.

The sale wasn’t limited to Elon Musk’s companies. Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon had some of the worst sessions of the past year due to a broad decline in tech and other high-momentum stocks. Bloomberg reported that the trigger was a selloff at Korean chipmakers, which has reignited doubts about how far the broader AI rise can go.

A partial postponement took place on Tuesday, June 23. SpaceX shares rose as much as 5.9% on the day; That reversed an earlier decline of about 4% that briefly pushed the stock below its $150 opening price, ending a three-day period that shaved more than $600 billion from the company’s market value.

SpaceX bond sale: $25 billion to finance AI goals

The immediate trigger for the final leg of the sale was a financing decision rather than missing results. SpaceX has moved to raise at least $20 billion with its first investment-grade bond sale, earmarking the proceeds for artificial intelligence goals. It’s an unusual move in a market typically reserved for established, profitable companies that make cars or sell life insurance. SpaceX hasn’t turned a profit, and S&P Global Ratings said it expects the company to continue burning cash through 2029.

The offering was priced at $25 billion on Tuesday, completing the final step of incorporating the costlier debt onto the parent company’s balance sheet. That debt had financed Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now X, in 2022, as well as the expensive loans and bonds he issued last year to cover the rapid cash burn of his artificial intelligence startup xAI.

Excluding SpaceX, these entities would spend an estimated $1.8 billion this year servicing a total of $17.5 billion in debt. SpaceX will instead pay about $1.5 billion a year in interest on the new bonds.

The restructuring reflects how closely Musk has brought his companies closer together, even as the conglomerate has yet to turn a profit and posted a net loss of $4.9 billion in 2025. SpaceX, founded in 2002, acquired xAI in February in a deal that valued the combined company at $1.25 trillion; X merged with xAI almost a year ago.

Revenue from Starlink’s satellite internet business and SpaceX’s rocket contracts with the US government effectively provides heavy expenses for xAI, which now owns X (formerly Twitter).

Tesla remains the other pillar of Musk’s fortune. He first backed the electric car maker in 2004 and has held an almost 11% stake as the company’s chief executive since 2008. Another 8% comes from the restricted stock he will lose if he doesn’t stay with Tesla until January 2028.

Elon Musk also founded tunneling startup The Boring Company and brain implant startup Neuralink; However, most of his wealth is in SpaceX and to a lesser extent Tesla.

SpaceX’s lock-in period: The next test for the stock

SpaceX’s volatility may not be over. Experts say early insider trading could reach the market by the end of July, ahead of the standard 180-day lock-up period that ends Dec. 8.

The richest person in the world: Elon Musk is still ahead by far

Despite all the volatility, Musk’s position at the top of the global wealth rankings looks solid for now. Even after losing his trillionaire status, his $957 billion fortune leaves him hundreds of billions of dollars shy of his nearest rival, Larry Page.

Google co-founder Larry Page remains the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $297 Billion. He is followed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, whose net worth is $276 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.