SpaceX’s bullish market debut propels Elon Musk to the world’s first trillionaire status

New Delhi: SpaceX founder Elon Musk became the world’s first-ever trillionaire after his space tech and communications company’s shares soared in the largest-ever stock market debut on Friday, comfortably positioning himself as the richest man on Earth with a total net worth of $1.11 trillion. As SpaceX got listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, the company’s stock, priced at $135 each, began trading at $150, and during the day’s trading, it touched a value of $176.5, indicating much enthusiasm from investors. It closed the day at $161.

The company was valued at $2.2 trillion as the trade began, marking investor interest in businesses related to space technology. Musk’s personal brand value also contributed to the bullish trend of his company’s shares on the bourses. Bloomberg’s rich list mentioned him as the richest man in the world today, and the first-ever trillionaire. Musk is also the founder of the artificial intelligence and mobility company Tesla.

SpaceX’s initial public offering had raised $75 billion from investors and underwriters before it hit the market for the first time on Friday. Musk’s 42% ownership stakein SpaceX gives him essentially unilateral control over everything the company does and how the company’s money, which he invested, is spent. Bloomberg said Musk’s shares in SpaceX were now worth $767.1 billion as trading closed. He also has options for another $53 billion in the company. The trillionaire also holds $168 billion in Tesla shares and a further $116.4 billion in options.

Musk’s new status as the world’s first billionaire immediately triggered an online debate on wealth inequality globally, as he was now richer than the entire economic output of nations, such as Poland or Switzerland. Musk is already quite a provocateur of online debates on X, a social media platform he owns, over larger issues such as free speech and economic inequality, and his newfound ‘trillionaire’ status only added grit to the controversy mill.

His open support and funding for the US president, Donald Trump, during Trump’s election campaign in 2024 and his attacks on Democrats and the “woke” had already made him a public figure to be hated by the so-called leftist and liberalist political activists. He also briefly led the Trump 2.0 administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), but differences with the US president forced him to resign. Since then, friends Trump and Musk enjoy a love-hate relationship over several policy issues. But Musk accompanied Trump on Air Force One on the latter’s China visit last month.