Elon Musk loses trillionaire status after a sharp SpaceX and Tesla stock decline. His fortune dropped below $1 trillion in less than two weeks.
Elon Musk has lost his trillionaire status less than two weeks after making history. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his fortune dropped to $957 billion on Tuesday. Earlier this month, Musk became the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX launched its highly anticipated stock market debut. The company opened trading at $150 per share after pricing its IPO at $135. That listing pushed SpaceX’s value above $1.7 trillion and lifted Musk’s wealth beyond the $1 trillion mark.
Investor excitement initially sent SpaceX shares soaring. By June 16, the stock had climbed to more than $225 per share. As a result, Musk’s net worth peaked at about $1.32 trillion. However, the celebration did not last. Growing concerns about artificial intelligence spending, high interest rates, and tech company valuations triggered a major sell-off across Wall Street. Companies such as Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Tesla, and SpaceX all felt the pressure.
SpaceX suffered the biggest blow. Its shares have fallen by more than 30% from their mid-June high. On June 22 alone, the stock plunged 16%, wiping out an estimated $240 billion from Musk’s paper wealth. Tesla shares also dropped nearly 6% shortly after. Since most of Musk’s fortune comes from his holdings in SpaceX and Tesla, the decline hit especially hard. Despite the setback, he remains the richest person in the world by a huge margin.
Market experts say this type of volatility is common after a major IPO. Still, the speed of the drop has caught many investors by surprise. Danni Hewson, Head of Financial Analysis at AJ Bell, explained: “For a stock like SpaceX, a lot of decision making might have been emotional and based on the anticipation of huge leaps forward in space exploration and utilisation, but investing should be something treated with clear eyes and patience, even when such huge numbers are involved.”
With insider selling restrictions expected to ease in late July, more pressure could follow. Yet a small rebound in SpaceX shares could quickly return Musk to trillionaire status.
