Elon Musk is a trillionaire again. What made him richer?
The rise in SpaceX and Tesla stock prices allowed the entrepreneur to regain his status as the world's only trillionaire
Last time, Musk remained a trillionaire for only a few days / Photo: Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com
Elon Musk's net worth reached $1 trillion amid rising SpaceX and Tesla stock prices during trading on October 5, according to Forbes. According to the publication’s estimates, compared to Friday’s market close, the entrepreneur’s net worth increased by nearly 5%, or $47.9 billion (figures as of the time of publication).
SpaceX shares rose 6% during Monday's trading session, reaching a high of $168.50 per share. The rise was driven by a positive assessment from Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, who called the stock “surprisingly cheap.” Jonas’s price target of $300 implies a nearly 90% increase in SpaceX’s share price from its most recent closing price.
Additional factors that boosted SpaceX’s stock included the company’s first-ever successful orbital launch of the Starship spacecraft last week, as well as comments from Musk, who hinted at a possible renaming of the SpaceXAI (which operates the Grok chatbot) to SpaceXSI. This came after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in late September to replace the term “artificial intelligence” with “superintelligence” in executive branch documents and communications. Musk supported this idea on the social network X, writing “Enough with AI” and calling the “Xi” designation a better fit. However, the company has not yet taken any formal steps toward rebranding, Forbes notes.
Tesla's stock rose 2.4% on Monday. Last week, the company reported its third-quarter delivery figures, which exceeded analysts' expectations.
Context
Musk had already become the first trillionaire in history in June—after SpaceX went public, and his net worth rose to approximately $1.1 trillion. The offering set a record for the amount of funds raised: the company raised $75 billion at a total valuation of $1.77 trillion, immediately placing it among the seven most valuable public companies in the U.S. Musk held onto his trillionaire status for only a few days—SpaceX and Tesla’s stock prices subsequently fell, and his net worth dropped below the $1 trillion mark. By early September, SpaceX’s market capitalization had already rebounded to $2 trillion amid analysts’ optimism about the company’s prospects in the artificial intelligence market.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
